Love Sucks
by slexieotpforever
Summary: Annabelle's life was normal, just like any other teenage girl's. Mystic Falls was normal, just like any other town. Until two brothers make their way into town. How will Annabelle cope with her new knowledge of the supernatural?
1. Pilot

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' in any shape or form. But I do own my OCs._

 ** _Title:_** Calm Before the Storm

 ** _Author:_** Original Huntress

 ** _Pairings (for season 1 ONLY, does NOT concern the other seasons):_** Stefan/OC friendship, Damon/OC friendship.

 ** _Summary:_** Annabelle's life was normal, just like any other teenage girl's. Mystic Falls was normal, just like any other town. Until two brothers make their way into town. How will Annabelle cope with her new knowledge of the supernatural? Pairings for season 1 ONLY, does NOT concern the other seasons: Stefan/OC friendship, Damon/OC friendship, same OC.

 _ **A/N:**_ _Alright, well, this is the very first chapter of this story. I hope you like it, and please leave reviews to tell me what you think!_

 _This will start in the very first episode of the series, 1x01 'Pilot'._

 **Love Also Has Thorns**

 **Chapter One**

 **Pilot**

Her eyes fluttered open as the all-too-familiar sound was heard from her phone. Grunting quietly, not wanting to get up yet, she turned to lay on her back and blindly searched for her phone on the nightstand with her hand. After a few seconds, she felt the cool texture beneath her fingers and quickly grabbed the phone, bringing it in front of her face and squinting as the bright light irritated her sleepy eyes. She quickly clicked the 'OK' icon, and threw her phone back onto the nightstand before turning on her side and covering herself with the quilt again.

"Anna! Are you up yet?!" there was a knock on the door of her bedroom, and she sat up tiredly, sighing in irritation.

"Yeah!" she called back to her sister, trying not to let the annoyance she felt show in her voice. She then grudgingly threw the covers off of her slim form, hissing in irritation as the cool air hit her bare legs. She quickly grabbed a random hair tie from her vanity, and threw her dark hair up in a messy bun before walking into the bathroom that she shares with her aunt and closing the door behind her. She then quickly stripped her gray-white striped pajama shorts and white shirt with gray neckline and 3/4 sleeves, and jumped into the shower. As soon as the hot water hit her skin, she felt her muscles relax and she sighed in contentment, before quickly grabbing her sponge and pouring her favorite rose-scented body wash onto it. She quickly but thoroughly washed her body, before stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around herself.

After stepping out of the bathroom, she quickly dried herself off before putting on gray-white striped, loose, 3/4 sleeved shirt, skinny jeans, and gray vans, as well as a long, silver necklace with a large key charm to compliment the look . She then made the bed, before braiding the front strands of her hair and pulling it back to put her hair in a pony tail, and putting the towel back in the bathroom. After quickly checking if she had everything she needed, she grabbed her school bag and slung it over her shoulder before leaving her room and heading downstairs.

"Toast," she heard a female voice coming from the kitchen. "I can make toast,"

"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna," she said as she walked into the kitchen, seeing her aunt standing in front of the open refrigerator, and her sister sitting at the table. She then put her bag on the chair next to Elena's, before walking over to the coffee machine and pouring herself some coffee.

"Is there coffee?" Jeremy asked, walking into the kitchen, and she nodded, holding up the mug.

"Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared," Jenna stressed as Jeremy walked over to Annabelle, holding his hand out, making her sigh with a small smile before handing him the already filled cup, since she knew he would want coffee. He gave her a small smile in thanks, and she ruffled his hair slightly before grabbing a cup for herself and walking over to stand behind Elena, "Lunch money?" Jenna asked, walking over to stand in front of the three teenagers, holding some money in her hand.

"I'm good," Annabelle shook her head.

"So am I," Elena said, while Jeremy quickly snatched all the money from her hand, making Annabelle sigh quietly, since she was 99% sure that he won't spend that money on lunch.

"Anything else?" Jenna asked, "A number two pencil?" she joked, packing her things into her bag before looking up. "What am I missing?"

"Don't you have a big presentation today?" Annabelle asked with furrowed eyebrows, remembering what her aunt told her the day before.

"I'm meeting with my thesis adviser at..." Jenna trailed off as she looked at the watch on her wrist, before throwing her hands up in frustration, "Now. Crap," she said as she quickly pulled her strawberry blonde hair out of her messy bun, letting it fall loosely on her shoulders.

"Then go," Annabelle said, and Jenna looked at her, slightly worried, "We'll be fine," the teenage girl added, seeing the hesitation in her aunt's eyes, and Jenna sighed before giving her a thankful smile and rushing out of the house.

"You okay?" Elena asked, looking at Jeremy, concerned, making him scoff quietly.

"Don't start," he said, still holding the cup of coffee Annabelle made him, before giving his other sister a nod and also leaving.

Annabelle let out a sigh as she watched the door for a few seconds, before looking at her twin sister, who was frowning.

"Give him some time, Elena," Annabelle said and Elena sighed, but nodded nonetheless. Annabelle gave her a small smile, before grabbing her bag, "Now, come on. Bonnie's going to be here..." she trailed off as they heard a honk from outside, "Now, apparently," she finished, and Elena gave a small chuckle before getting up and grabbing her things.

* * *

"So, Grams is telling me I'm psychic," Bonnie spoke as she drove her car, with Elena in the passenger seat and Annabelle in the backseat, "Our ancestors were from Salem, which isn't all that, I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, 'put this woman in a home already!'," she chuckled, and Annabelle couldn't help but smile at her best friend as she turned her head to look out the window. However, as soon as she saw that they were driving past the cemetery, she quickly adverted her gaze and concentrated fully on Bonnie so that her thoughts wouldn't wander off to places she didn't want them to, "But then, I started thinking, I predicted Obama, and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands," Bonnie continued, before stopping as she glanced at Elena. Noticing her expression, Annabelle furrowed her eyebrows and leaned over to also look at her sister, only to see her gazing out the window, lost in thought, "Elena!" Bonnie called, letting out a small chuckle, making Elena immediately turn to look at us, "Back in the car," Bonnie joked with a small grin.

"I did it again, didn't I?" Elena sighed as she glanced at her sister, making her nod. "I-I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling us that...?"

"That she's psychic now," Annabelle supplied with a small, teasing smile.

"Right, okay," Elena said, clearly not believing a word, "Then predict something. About me," she said, and Bonnie sighed, looking over at her with a smile before closing her eyes for a moment.

"I see-" she was cut off when something suddenly slammed against the car, making them all gasp as Bonnie lost control of the car for a second, before being able to steady it and bring it around the corner, the tires screeching before they halted to a stop, "What was that?!" Bonnie exclaimed as she glanced at the two sisters, who were both trying to take in deep breaths, "Oh, my God," Bonnie leaned back in her seat, also trying to make sense of what just happened, "Are you guys okay?" she asked worriedly, the guilt rising up in her.

"It's okay," Elena said, her voice a bit shaky. "I'm fine,"

"Anna?" Bonnie looked at the girl in the backseat, who nodded shakily.

"Yeah, I... I'm good," she said, trying to get her breathing under control as unwelcome images flashed before her eyes.

"It was like a bird or something, it came out of nowhere," Bonnie spoke quickly, looking at the apologetically.

"No, it's okay," Annabelle said, but Bonnie looked at her skeptically, "Look, we can't be scared of cars for the rest of our lives," she said, and Bonnie nodded hesitantly before looking at the two with a soft smile.

"I predict this year is going to be kick-ass," she said, and Annabelle smiled a little, "And I predict all the sad and dark times are over, and you two," she pointed at the two girls, "Are going to be beyond happy," she finished, and Annabelle and Elena both smiled at their friend, hoping that she's right.

* * *

"Major lack of male real estate," Bonnie said as she, Elena, and Annabelle walked down the hallway of their high school, "Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beach," she grimaced as she looked at the girl walking in front of them, making Annabelle and Elena stifle a laugh as they shared a look. "She looks a hot - can I still say 'tranny mess'?"

"No, that's over," Annabelle joked as she leaned against the lockers with Elena by her side.

"Ah, find a man, coin a phrase, it's a busy year," Bonnie grinned at them, about to open her locker, when something behind them caught her attention. Annabelle's brows furrowed in confusion as she and Elena turned around to see what Bonnie was looking at, only to see a handsome, blonde, blue-eyed teenager, staring at Elena with pain in his eyes. Elena raised her hand, giving him a small wave and a small smile, but he just looked at her for a second longer before moving his eyes to Annabelle, giving her a nod, and taking his books out of his locker, slamming the locker shut, and walking away, completely ignoring the eldest Gilbert.

Elena sighed sadly as she slowly turned back around to look at Bonnie, who was looking at her sympathetically.

"He hates me," she said miserably.

"No, he doesn't," Annabelle said reassuringly, but Elena just gave her a look, making Annabelle giver her a small, comforting smile.

"No, Anna's right," Bonnie spoke up, "That's not hate. That's, 'you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits'," she said, making Annabelle chuckle quietly.

"Anna, Elena," came a bit preppy voice, and Annabelle only had a second to turn around before she was engulfed in a tight hug by a beautiful blonde girl, "Oh, my God. How are you?" the girl asked, letting go of Annabelle, "Oh, it's so good to see you," the blonde continued, turning her attention to Elena and hugging her tightly as well, "How are they? Are they good?" she asked Bonnie over Elena's shoulder, making Annabelle smile gently at the concern in her voice.

"Caroline, we're right here," Elena butted in with a small grin, though Annabelle could tell that her sister was a bit annoyed by the blonde, "And I'm fine," she nodded, and Caroline nodded before the three girls turned to look at Annabelle.

"I'm okay, I'm good," the brunette nodded, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "Thank you,"

"Really?" Caroline pressed gently, wanting to make sure that her friends are alright.

"Yes," Annabelle nodded again. "Much better,"

"Oh, you poor thing," Caroline murmured, before pulling her best friend into a hug again, making Annabelle chuckle quietly. The blonde girl hugged Annabelle for a few more seconds, before pulling away and smiling at the three brunettes, "Okay, see you guys later?" she asked, and they all nodded, "Okay, bye," Caroline grinned, and they all returned it, before walking away.

"No comment," Elena shook her head as she turned back to her sister and dark-skinned friend, making Annabelle chuckle quietly.

"Okay, so she is a bit overbearing, but she means well," she reasoned.

"I'm not gonna say anything," Elena muttered, making Annabelle smack her playfully.

As the three girls walked by the school office, Bonnie came to a sudden halt, holding her arm out to stop the two other girls as well.

"Hold up. Who's this?" she asked, and Annabelle followed her gaze, only to see her staring at the back of a tall teenager wearing jeans and a black leather jacket.

"All I see is back," Elena said.

"It's a hot back," Annabelle supplied, making her sister chuckle, amused, while Bonnie nodded in agreement.

"I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar," Bonnie said while staring at the young man intensely.

"You're really gonna run this whole psychic thing into the ground, aren't you?" Annabelle chuckled.

"Pretty much," Bonnie replied nonchalantly, still not taking her eyes off of the young man but letting a grin slip onto her lips.

"Jeremy. Good batch, man," Annabelle heard one of the students from behind Bonnie say, and she and Elena both looked over the dark-skinned girl's shoulder, only to see their younger brother walk into the men's restroom.

"I'll be right back," Elena said in a hard voice as she sighed before following Jeremy.

"I..." Annabelle trailed off with a sigh while pointing in the direction her siblings headed, before following them, not wanting Elena to get ahead of herself.

Annabelle entered the men's restroom, almost bumping into one of the boys from their school, only to see Elena already holding Jeremy's face in her hand roughly as she looked into his eyes.

"Great," the eldest Gilbert chuckled humorlessly, pulling her hand away as Annabelle arrived by her side. "It's the first day of school and you're stoned,"

"No, I'm not," Jeremy scoffed.

"Where is it? Is it on you?" Elena questioned as she started searching Jeremy's pockets, making Annabelle sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Stop, alright? You need to chill yourself, alright?!" Jeremy exclaimed, pushing his oldest sister away.

"'Chill myself'?" Elena repeated slowly, staring at her brother incredulously. "What is that, stoner talk? Dude, you are so cool," she said coldly, before starting to search through Jeremy's pockets again.

"Look, stop! I don't have anything on me! Are you crazy?!"

"You haven't _seen_ 'crazy', Jeremy! I gave you a summer pass, but I am done watching you destroy yourself," Elena said, and pushed Jeremy back as he attempted to storm past her, "No, no, no, no, you know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time, you got it?" Elena said, and Annabelle sighed.

"Alright, Elena, that's enough," she said, just as they heard a flush come from one of the stalls before one of the students from their school came out, glancing at the Gilbert sisters oddly before leaving the restroom.

"Jeremy, I know who you are," Elena said, speaking in a softer tone this time. "And it's not this person. So don't be this person,"

"I don't need this," Jeremy spat, his voice tight, before storming past his oldest sister and leaving the restroom.

Annabelle sighed as she stared at the door her brother just left through, before walking past her sister, leaving the restroom. As soon as she was back in the hallway, she looked around before barely being able to catch the sight of her brother's retreating back. Without wasting a second so that she wouldn't lose him in the crowd, Annabelle quickly ran after her brother, just barely being able to catch up with him.

"Jeremy, wait!" she called, but her brother didn't stop.

"What, are you gonna yell at me, too?!" he yelled, though Annabelle could hear the pain he was trying to hide in his voice.

"No, I-okay, will just stop and listen to me?!" she caught up with him and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to a stop and turning him around to face her.

"What?!" Jeremy yelled as he faced his sister, and her face softened as she saw the un-shed tears in his brown eyes.

"Look..." she sighed, and Jeremy looked down at her with his jaw clenched, "Elena got ahead of herself, but we both only want what's best for you, Jeremy," she spoke, ignoring the scoff she received in response, "Look, I know that _this_ is your way of dealing with... everything that's been going on... but you can't keep doing this to yourself. It's your choice, of course it is," she added quickly when she saw his jaw clench. "But please, just... be careful,"

For a moment, Jeremy's eyes softened as he looked into his sister's concerned and worried light blue eyes, before he sighed.

"Well, like you said... it's _my_ choice," he said, before walking away from her.

* * *

"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then, Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region, joining the union." Annabelle stopped paying attention to her teacher, whom she found incredibly boring and quite rude, when Elena's phone vibrated. As her sister pulled it out, Annabelle leaned over to read the message she received from Bonnie, and grinned.

'HAWT-E STARING U'

Elena smiled and shook her head, while Annabelle glanced over at the new student, who was very handsome; light brown, short hair, thick, dark eyebrows, leaf-green eyes, and perfect bone structure. And, indeed, his eyes were on no other than Elena. Annabelle bit her lip to stop herself from grinning, when his eyes suddenly traveled to her. She watched as his eyes widened the tiniest bit, and quickly turned back around to pay attention to the teacher, while the new student stared at her for a few more seconds before also returning his attention to the teacher.

* * *

"His name is Stefan Salvatore," Caroline spoke to Bonnie and Annabelle about the new student in their school as the three girls slowly walked through the Grill a few hours after school. Annabelle, knowing that her sister wanted to spend some time at the cemetery (again), decided to simply meet up with Caroline and Bonnie, and let Elena meet up with them later, "He lives with his uncle up at the old Salvatore Boarding House, he hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue," Caroline finished as she stopped walking and turned around to look at her two best friends.

"You got all of that in one day?" Bonnie asked in disbelief, and Annabelle chuckled.

"Oh, please. She got all of that between third and fourth period," she said, and Bonnie looked at her in disbelief before turning back to Caroline, who simply nodded with a nonchalant smile.

"Yup. We're planning a June wedding," she said, before turning around and walking away from the two girls, who simply stared after her in amusement.

"She's unbelievable," Bonnie murmured with a disbelieving chuckle, making Annabelle hold back a laugh.

"Well, that's Caroline for you," she said, making Bonnie stifle a laugh.

* * *

"How's Elena doing?" Annabelle heard a male voice ask, and excused herself from a conversation she had with Caroline.

"Her mom and dad died. How do you think?" she heard Bonnie reply, and stiffened, coming to a halt. The dark-skinned girl's eyes wandered over to where she was standing, and widened, guilt immediately rising up. "Oh, my God. Anna, I... I am so sor-"

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Annabelle managed to say, before gathering the strength to continue walking as she turned to the teenage boy at their table, who was also looking at her apologetically. "Elena's putting on a good face, but... it's only been four months," she said, sadness seeping into her voice, making Bonnie give her a sympathetic smile.

"Has she said anything about me?" the young man asked gently, feeling guilty to seem so insensitive.

"Oh, no. I am so not getting in the middle of that," Annabelle shook her head, while Bonnie raised her hands and shook her head, silently telling him that she won't tell him anything either. "You pick up the phone and call her,"

"I feel weird calling her," he admitted. "She broke up with me,"

"Give it more time, Matt," Bonnie shrugged, giving him a soft smile, before her eyes traveled towards the door that they heard open, and widened as she saw Elena and Stefan enter together. Annabelle didn't know whether to feel sorry for Matt, or happy that her sister seemed to be spending more time with other people instead of spending so much time alone.

"More time, huh?" Matt asked sadly, his voice nearly cracking, and the two girls looked at him sympathetically as he stood up and walked towards Elena and Stefan.

Annabelle sighed and looked down at Bonnie, the two girls sharing a sad look, before following Matt.

"Hey, I'm Matt. Nice to meet you," she heard Matt introduce himself, and couldn't help but admire him. Even when he is so heartbroken, he is still kind, even to the ones most people would hate if they were in his position.

"Hi. Stefan," Stefan shook his hand with a small, polite smile, and Matt gave him a nod before his eyes traveled to Elena, while Stefan's gaze moved to Annabelle.

"Hey," Elena smiled at Matt, hoping to make him feel better, but with no such luck.

"Hey," Matt said back, but not even a smile complimented his greeting.

Elena sighed, hating the fact that she was hurting the boy she grew up with, before looking at Stefan, only to see him looking in a different direction. Furrowing her eyebrows, she followed his gaze curiously.

"Oh. Uh, Stefan, this is my sister, Annabelle," she quickly introduced, thinking that the reason Stefan was staring at Annabelle was because he could see the slight resemblance, but didn't know who Annabelle was.

"You can call me Anna," Annabelle smiled at him, reaching out to shake his hand, making him smile, his eyes remaining on her for a few more seconds.

* * *

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline questioned as she, Bonnie, Stefan, Elena, and Annabelle all sat at a table.

"Mm-hmm," Stefan nodded. "And, uh, moved when I was still young,"

"Parents?"

"My parents passed away," Stefan said, and the same look appeared on both Annabelle and Elena's faces, who gripped each other's hands comfortingly.

"I'm sorry," Annabelle spoke sincerely, and Stefan gave her a nod with a small smile.

"Any siblings?" Elena asked, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible.

"None that I talk to," Stefan replied with a smile, his eyes on Elena. "I, uh, I live with my uncle,"

"So, Stefan," Caroline spoke up, wanting to bring his attention to her instead of Elena. "If you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow,"

"It's a back-to-school thing at the falls," Bonnie explained with a smile, and Stefan immediately turned to Elena, who was sitting on his other side.

"Are you going?" he asked.

"Of course she is," Annabelle immediately answered from her sister's other side, not wanting to give Elena even a second to back out. She believed wholeheartedly that after the events that took place during the past four months, Elena deserved to be happy, and if Stefan was the key to that happiness, then she will do anything to get these two together.

Elena felt a smile grow on her lips as she heard her sister, and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking at Stefan shyly.

* * *

Stefan opened a cabinet in his room, and pulled out an old-looking journal. He opened it, and took out two pictures that were in between the pages. One was a photo of a woman with a XIX century hairstyle, who looked exactly like Elena. However, underneath the photo it read, _Katherine 1864_.

Stefan sighed quietly, before putting the picture back in the journal, and looking at the one in his other hand. It was a photo of a beautiful woman with a XIX century hairstyle. The woman looked exactly like Annabelle Gilbert, down to the smallest detail. But it wasn't Annabelle. Under the photo it read: _Layla 1864_.

* * *

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war, in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle?" the History teacher asked his class the next day. "Ms. Bennett?"

"Um... a lot?" Bonnie answered, though it definitely sounded more like a question. "I'm not sure. Like a whole lot,"

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett," the teacher said coldly, making Bonnie look down, and Annabelle scoff quietly in disbelief as she rubbed the sleeve of her light blue, off-the-shoulder sweater between her fingers. Just to keep warm, she had a white loose tank top under, with skinny jeans and panther-patterned vans, and panther-patterned, gray-blue striped scarf. Her hair fell loosely on her shoulders, but the front strands were pulled back and pinned tightly on the back of her head. "Mr. Donovan. Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

"It's okay, Mr. Tanner. I'm cool with it," Matt replied, making everyone chuckle.

"Hmm," Mr. Tanner hummed, before bringing his gaze onto the eldest Gilbert. "Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

"I'm sorry, I... I don't know," Elena shook her head.

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break," Mr. Tanner said, making Elena look down, while Annabelle's blood boiled at the words that left her teacher's mouth. How dare he be so insensitive and rude?!

"There were 346 casualties, unless you're counting the local civilians," Stefan spoke up, making everyone's attention turn to him.

"That's correct," Mr. Tanner nodded, glancing at Elena one last time, before pointing at Stefan. "Mister..."

"Salvatore,"

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

"Distant," Stefan replied after a moment of hesitation.

"Well, very good," Mr. Tanner praised. "Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle,"

"Actually, there were, uh, 28, sir," Stefan spoke up, "Confederate soldiers, they fired on a church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founders' archives are, uh, stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr. Tanner," Everyone chuckled in disbelief and shared grins, more than glad that their jackass of a teacher finally got what he deserved.

* * *

"Just admit it, Elena," Bonnie pressed as she, Elena, and Annabelle stood together at the party near the falls.

"Oh, okay," Elena gave in. "So, he's a little pretty,"

"'A little'?" Annabelle, who was wearing dark gray boots, jeans, light gray loose tank top, light gray crop-top sweater, and a gray scarf, with a few strands of her hair braided from the front and down the full length of her hair, scoffed, making Elena shove her playfully. "He has that romance novel stare,"

"Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul," Bonnie said in a deep voice, making Annabelle and Elena laugh. "So, where is he?"

"I don't know," Elena replied. "You tell me, you're the psychic one,"

"Right, I forgot. Okay, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to 'concentrate'," Bonnie said, the disbelief clear in her voice as she closed her eyes.

"Wait," Elena said, holding her finger up, "You need a crystal ball," she said, "Uh," she looked around quickly, before picking up an empty beer bottle that was lying on the ground behind her and holding it up, "Ta da," she smiled triumphantly, making Annabelle and Bonnie chuckle as the dark-skinned girl reached out her hand to grab the bottle. However, as soon as her and Elena's hands made contact, her eyes widened and turned to Elena fearfully. After another few seconds of Bonnie being in some kind of trance, she pulled her hand away as Annabelle looked between the two girls, confusedly, "What?" Elena asked.

"That was weird," Bonnie said. "When I touched you, I saw a crow,"

"What?" Elena asked, her voice now serious and a bit fearful as well.

"A crow. There was fog, a man..." Bonnie trailed off, before shaking her head, "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it," she said, grabbing the beer bottle from Elena, although her voice gave away that she was trying to convince herself more than Elena, "Yeah? Okay, I'm gonna get a refill," she said, before quickly walking away as Annabelle and Elena stared after her.

"Okay," Elena said, still staring after the Bennett, "Bonnie!" she called, but the dark-skinned girl ignored her and simply continued walking.

"What was all that about?" Annabelle asked, and Elena shook her head as she took in a deep breath.

"I don't know," she answered quietly, and Annabelle frowned, wondering why Elena sounded so off. However, she didn't have time to ponder on it, because as soon as she turned around, she saw Stefan standing directly behind them. She opened her mouth to tell Elena, but it was too late, as the eldest Gilbert already turned around, only for her eyes to widen as she saw Stefan.

"Hi," he greeted with a smile, and Annabelle gave him a smile in return, while Elena chuckled.

"Hi,"

"I-I did it again, didn't I?" Stefan asked, his eyes on Elena, and Annabelle didn't even bother to ask what he was talking about.

"Yeah,"

"I'm sorry," he smiled, and Annabelle just shook her head with a smile at the two, before giving Stefan one last smile and walking away, looking around for either Bonnie or Caroline.

* * *

"You know, you're kind of the talk of the town," Elena said as she and Stefan walked side by side.

"Am I?" he smiled.

"Mm-hmm," Elena nodded with a smile. "The mysterious new guy, oh, yeah," she chuckled.

"Well, you have the mysterious thing going, too," Stefan said. "Twinged in sadness,"

"What makes you think that I'm sad?" Elena attempted to chuckle dismissively, but found it quite hard as she realized that she actually _wanted_ to open up to him.

"Well, uh, we did meet in a graveyard,"

"Right," Elena smiled, "Well, no, technically we met in the men's room," she said, and they both chuckled as they stepped onto the bridge right on the outskirts of the woods. "You don't want to know, it's... it's not exactly party chit-chat,"

"Well, I've never really been very good at, uh, 'chit-chat'," Stefan said, and there was a moment of silence between them.

"Last spring... my parents' car drove off of a bridge into the lake," Elena said. "And Anna and I were in the backseat, and we survived, but... they didn't," she explained, and avoided his gaze as tears rushed to her eyes, "So that's my story," she said and continued walking, but stopped when she couldn't hear Stefan's footsteps anymore and turned around, only to see that he stopped walking and was gazing at her, silently.

"You won't be sad forever, Elena," he finally spoke. "And neither will Annabelle,"

* * *

"Uh-uh," Annabelle shook her head, making Caroline and Bonnie give her weird looks, but she only turned to Matt and put a finger underneath his chin, forcing him to look at her and away from Elena and Stefan, who were standing on the bridge by the falls. "None of that sulking of yours tonight, okay?"

"I'm just observing," he shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, but sighed when Annabelle gave him a look. "Okay, okay, fine," he raised his hands in surrender, but the pain was clear in his eyes, so Annabelle gave him a sympathetic smile as she rubbed his arm comfortingly.

"Come on, let's go back," she said to her friends, and the girls nodded in agreement, also wanting Matt to have a bit of fun instead of sulk over his breakup with Elena.

Matt sighed, glancing back at Elena and Stefan, before letting Annabelle grab his hand and pull him back to where everyone else was either dancing, drinking, kissing, or simply talking. Unfortunately, that was when Elena also went back and started searching for someone in the crowd, and Matt quickly pulled his hand out of Annabelle's, walking over to the eldest Gilbert, making Annabelle sigh. She honestly didn't know how to help him, but she didn't want Matt to go through any more heartbreak; he's had enough.

Just as she was about to walk over to her sister and friend, she saw Caroline walk over to Stefan, who, just now, came back to where everyone else was. Annabelle sighed, knowing, just from the way Caroline walked, that her blonde friend was drunk, and decided to follow her, knowing that Caroline will try to make a move on Stefan.

"I think you've had too much to drink," Annabelle heard Stefan say, and couldn't agree more.

"Well, of course I have," Caroline laughed, and Annabelle shook her head. "So-"

"Caroline," Stefan cut in, wanting to get his point across firmly but gently, "You and me... it's not gonna happen. I'm sorry," he said, and Annabelle took that as her cue to intervene.

"Caroline!" she called, and heard her friend sigh as she turned around, "Hey, I've been looking for you," she said, her voice softer, since she knew all about Caroline's insecurities better than anyone, and knew that Stefan's rejection definitely effected her, "Uh, Bonnie and Matt are by the stock, so..." Annabelle trailed off, and Caroline sighed before walking past her brunette friend and heading over to where Matt and Bonnie were, but not without glancing at Stefan one last time. As soon as Caroline was out of hearing range, Annabelle turned to Stefan, "I'm sorry about her," she said, now wanting the new student to think badly of Caroline because of one night when, not only Caroline was her normal self, but also her drunk self.

"Is she like that with, uh, all the guys?" Stefan asked after giving Annabelle an understanding smile, and she shook her head.

"No. You're fresh meat. She'll back off eventually," she said with a smile, but it disappeared as soon as she heard a glass bottle clatter and saw her brother heading towards the woods, "God, you've gotta be kidding me!" she exclaimed.

"What is it?" Stefan asked, following her gaze.

"Our brother," Elena said, walking past the two without stopping, keen on talking to Jeremy.

"The drunk one?"

"That would be the one," Annabelle nodded, before walking past him. "Excuse me,"

"Need some help?" Stefan asked kindly, but Annabelle shook her head as she glanced at him over her shoulder.

"Oh, no. Trust me, you're not gonna want to witness this," she said, before following her siblings into the woods. "Jeremy!"

"Jeremy!" Elena called as she and Annabelle pushed past the branches and stepped over the roots. "Jeremy, where the hell are you going?!"

"I don't want to hear it!" Jeremy snapped, turning around to look at his sisters.

"Yeah, well, too bad," Annabelle retorted, worried about her brother who had the most stupid idea of first getting drunk, and then also heading into the woods.

The two girls were only a few feet away from their brother, when he suddenly tripped and landed on something. Annabelle quickly ran over to help him, with Elena hot on her heels, only to see that Jeremy was lying on top of a person.

"Vicki? No," he mumbled, before turning around to look at his sisters. "Oh, my God, it's Vicki!"

"Oh, my God," the girls gasped as they stared at Matt's sister, who was bleeding from her neck.

"No," Jeremy mumbled, tears in his eyes, when suddenly Vicki jerked forward with a loud gasp, making Elena and Annabelle jump back and gasp in surprise.

"You'll have to carry her," Annabelle told her brother hastily, and he nodded before quickly scooping Vicki up into his arms as the three siblings made their way back to where everyone else was as quickly as possible.

"Somebody help!" Elena screamed as soon as they stepped out of the woods.

"Vicki? Vicki, what the hell?!" Matt yelled as he dropped his drink and he, Tyler, and Bonnie ran over to the three siblings, while Jeremy placed Vicki gently on one of the tables.

"What happened?" asked Tyler.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" Matt yelled.

"Everybody, back up! Give her some space!" Tyler quickly pushed away anyone who tried to get near them, before returning to standing beside Annabelle as she inspected the wound on Vicki's neck.

"It's her neck!" she exclaimed. "Something bit her! She's losing a lot of blood, and it's bad!"

"Here, put this on her neck," Matt quickly handed her a scarf, and Annabelle put it to Vicki's wound, keeping pressure on it. Elena quickly made her way over to her sister to help keep pressure, glancing at her in admiration for a second. Annabelle never liked Vicki; it was clear to everyone. She hated how Vicki treated Jeremy, and she hated that Vicki was the one who got him into drugs. Not to mention she hated Vicki's attitude. But Annabelle was one of the kindest people anyone in Mystic Falls has ever met, and she was willing to do anything in order to save Vicki's life, even if she definitely did not like the girl.

However, Annabelle was not only helping because Vicki was an innocent human, but because she was important to Tyler, Matt, and, not to mention, Jeremy. And at the moment, Annabelle didn't care that she did not like Vicki at all. No. At the moment, all she cared about was helping her.

"Vicki. Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me," Tyler pleaded, while Annabelle looked up to see if anyone called an ambulance. And when she looked up, she saw Stefan looking at Vicki with, what seemed to be, anxiety, before quickly turning around and leaving. Annabelle's brows furrowed in confusion, but she didn't have time to wonder what was going on as she tried to stop Vicki's neck from bleeding.

* * *

Stefan ran into the Boarding House, and Zach Salvatore looked up at him.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me," Stefan quickly explained, before running upstairs and entering his room. He closed the door behind him, before looking around the room as he felt another presence. He looked over to where his balcony doors were open, when suddenly a black crow flew in, squawking. Stefan's brows furrowed for a second, before he stiffened and turned around, only to see a man standing on his balcony. "Damon,"

"Hello, brother,"

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan asked his brother as the crow squawked from its place on the balcony.

"Wait till you see what I can do with the fog," Damon replied.

"When'd you get here?"

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day at school," Damon said, a sarcastic tone in his voice as he walked around Stefan's room. "Your hair's different. I like it,"

"It's been 15 years, Damon,"

"Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the '90s. That horrible grunge look?" Damon chuckled as he circled his brother, "Did not suit you," he smirked. "Remember, Stefan. It's important to stay away from fads,"

"Why are you here?" Stefan demanded as his voice raised a bit in volume, making Damon turn around from where he was looking at something on a shelf.

"I miss my little brother,"

"You hate small towns," Stefan said. "It's boring, there's nothing for you to do,"

"I've managed to keep myself busy," Damon smirked as he started walking around the room again.

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight," Stefan said as he leaned back against his desk. "That's very clumsy of you,"

"Ah, that can be a problem..." Damon leaned against a desk by the wall, pretending to be concerned before he dropped the act and looked at his brother. "For you,"

"Why are you here now?" Stefan asked after a short moment of silence.

"I could ask you the same question," Damon answered as he pushed himself off the desk and took a few steps towards Stefan, "However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word," he stopped right in front of his brother, and looked him in the eye as a smirk grew on his lips. "Elena,"

* * *

Annabelle watched from where she was standing next to Elena as the paramedics got Vicki into an ambulance, and Matt quickly got in himself, before they closed the doors and drove off.

"Hey," came Bonnie's voice and the two sisters turned around to face her as she walked up to them, "We're gonna go mainline coffee, wait for news," she said, referring to herself and Caroline, who was drunk.

"We gotta take Jeremy home," Annabelle said, and Bonnie nodded in understanding, before looking at the two girls.

"Guys, there's no way I'm psychic, I know that," she spoke, her gaze serious, "But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..." she trailed off, her voice a bit shaky.

"What?" Annabelle pressed, and Bonnie stared at her for a while.

"That it's just the beginning,"

* * *

"She took my breath away. Elena," Damon spoke as he started slowly walking around Stefan's room again. "She's a dead ringer for Katherine," he smirked at his brother. "Is it working Stefan? Being around her, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?" he taunted.

"She's not Katherine," Stefan said firmly.

"Well, let's hope not," Damon said, "We both know how that ended," he said, something flashing in his eyes before he smirked at his brother again, "But, like you, I'm sure, there's another little word that I left out, and this one left me absolutely stunned and breathless... Annabelle," he smirked, and Stefan stiffened at the mention of her name. "Now, Annabelle. Sweet, gorgeous Annabelle just stopped me in my tracks. She could pass for Layla any day. And let's not forget that those two aren't just sisters; they're _twin_ sisters at that."

"Anna's not Layla," Stefan said, his voice hard.

"'Anna'?" Damon smirked. "Well, would you look at that. She already charmed you, didn't she?" his smirk grew as Stefan simply stared at him. "Now, tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"

"I know what you're doing, Damon," Stefan said after scoffing, "It's not gonna work," he said, starting to turn away.

"Yeah?!" Damon put his hand on Stefan's shoulder and pulled him back roughly to face him again. "Come on. Don't you crave a little?"

"Stop it,"

"Let's do it," Damon tried to put his hand on Stefan's shoulder again, but Stefan immediately shoved it off, "Together. I saw a couple of girls out there," he said, attempting to put his hand on Stefan's shoulder again, but Stefan shoved it off as he took a few steps back. "Or just, let's just cut to the chase," he attempted to smack Stefan in the head, but it was deflected. "Let's just go straight for Elena. Or, no. You can have Elena, but I'll take the sweeter one, I'll take Annabelle. You smelled her blood, right? It smells absolutely divine, her blood must be top of the line,"

"Stop it!" Stefan yelled, losing his calm demeanor and shoving his brother back.

"Imagine what their blood tastes like!" Damon yelled, trying to provoke Stefan as he saw him shaking with rage. "I can,"

"I said stop!" Stefan yelled, his eyes now red, his veins and fangs now completely showing. He growled, before launching himself at Damon, the two of them flying out through the window. However, as soon as Stefan hit the hard pavement, Damon was nowhere in sight.

Stefan slowly managed to get back up on his feet, groaning in pain a bit as shards of glass pierced his skin, and looked around.

"I was impressed," Damon said from where he was leaning against the bushes, making Stefan turn around to face him. "I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised," he said as Stefan brushed himself off all the glass shards quickly, "Very good with the whole face -" Damon imitated Stefan's growling, "-thing. It was good," he chuckled.

"You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people die," Stefan said, getting closer to his older brother.

"That's a given,"

"Not here," Stefan shook his head. "I won't allow it,"

"I take that as an invitation,"

"Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?"

"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word," Damon replied as he took a few steps forward.

"Just stay away from Elena," Stefan pleaded, but Damon's gaze fell to his hand instead. "Stay away from Annabelle,"

"Where's your ring?" Damon asked, ignoring the last part of Stefan's plea, and Stefan looked down at his hand, only to realize that his ring was missing from his middle finger, "Oh, yeah, sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and poof, ashes to ashes," Damon said, pretending to be concerned while Stefan simply stared at him with a sad and a bit fearful expression, "Relax," Damon chuckled, stepping forward, "It's right here," he extended his hand, revealing the lapis lazuli ring in his open palm. Stefan looked at his brother for a second, before taking the ring from his hand and slowly placing it back on his finger. However, as soon as it was in place, Damon's face transformed to one of a vampire and he grabbed Stefan by the throat, before throwing him at the wooden fence a few meters away from them. Stefan slammed against it, before landing back on the ground as Damon walked over to stand above him, "You should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again," Damon said, his voice dangerous as Stefan breathed heavily, staring up at him. Suddenly, they both heard rustling coming from the house, and Damon grinned. "I think we woke Zach up," he said, before turning around, "Sorry, Zach," he said as he walked back to the boarding house, whistling, while Stefan stared after him.

* * *

Annabelle walked over to Jeremy, who was drinking beer despite the police being only a few feet away from them, and stopped next to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently, putting her hand on his shoulder as she saw the complete and utter sadness and pain in his eyes. He didn't reply, but didn't move away from her either, which she was glad for, "Elena called Jenna, she's on her way," Annabelle informed him, but he didn't say anything, only looked at her with a bit red, puffy, pain-filled eyes, and she sighed, "Jer," she spoke, her voice soft as she slowly took the beer bottle of out his hand and threw it away before the police could notice, glad that he didn't object, "Look... the truth is... people don't really care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead, because they've got their own lives to deal with. And because they don't care, they're gonna stop giving you breaks, Jer," he looked over at his sister again, and she sighed when she saw tears fill his eyes, "The rest of the world has moved on," she said as she grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze, glad when he didn't pull away, "We should try, too," she said.

"Look, I know how you do it. You bottle it all up, and don't let anyone see how much you're hurting. You're lying to others, and to yourself," Jeremy said, his voice soft but his eyes pain-filled and accusing, "So, tell me. Is that, is that supposed to be you 'moving on'?" Annabelle sighed one more time, but shook her head.

"No," she admitted, "It's not, but... Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted this for any of us," she said, and she saw her little brother's eyes glisten. Annabelle sighed and quickly glanced around to make sure that no one from their school was around so that he wouldn't get mad at her for making him look like a kid, before quickly wrapping her arms around him, letting him bury his face in the crook of her neck. Within seconds she felt something wet on her skin, "Shh," she whispered soothingly as she stroked her little brother's hair, while tears came to her eyes as well. But she didn't let them fall. No, she had to be strong for Jeremy now.

* * *

Jenna Sommers looked over at her niece while they were both in their kitchen an hour later.

"Hey," she whispered, and Annabelle turned around, only to have Jenna beckon her over to where she was standing by the doorway. Annabelle looked at her, confused, but walked over to stand next to her aunt, only to see her little brother sitting on the couch in the living room, staring at the picture of their parents that he was holding in his hands. Annabelle sighed quietly and shared a solemn look with Jenna, "Go talk to him," her aunt whispered, "You're better at it than I am," Annabelle wanted to protest and say that Jenna is also good at comforting people and being there for them, but when she looked at her little brother, _she_ wanted be the one to comfort him, so she nodded and walked into the living room, while Jenna remained where she was.

She watched as Annabelle slowly walked over to where Jeremy was and sat down beside him. Seeing as Jeremy was sitting on the edge of the couch, she easily pulled him back so that the back of his head was resting against her collarbone. One of her hands on his chest as her arm hugged him to her, while her other hand stroked his hair softly. Jenna, despite it being an extremely sad moment for her niece and nephew, couldn't help but smile as she watched the two. After she came to live with them, she quickly realized that Annabelle was the one person Jeremy always trusted and confided in, and even though their parents died and they slowly drifted apart... that connection was never lost.

"Why don't you go to bed?" she spoke up after a few more minutes of watching the teenagers, and Annabelle and Jeremy turned around to look at her. She noticed the tear streaks on Jeremy's face, but didn't say anything. Jeremy glanced at his sister, who nodded in agreement with their aunt, and nodded, before putting the picture on the coffee table and heading upstairs, for once without any protests.

Jenna smiled at her niece and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Elena running down the stairs, nearly colliding with Jeremy on the way, to open the front door. Jenna and Annabelle shared a confused look, but it melted into one of understanding once they saw that it was Stefan who was standing on their porch. The strawberry blonde and the brunette smirked knowingly, before quietly backing out into the kitchen, letting Elena and Stefan have some privacy.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Alright, so here is the first chapter. What did you all think? Yes, no, maybe so? What do you think of Annabelle so far, and her relationship with others (Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy, Elena, Jenna, Matt)? Who do you think Layla is? What are your thoughts?


	2. The Night of the Comet

_**Disclaimer:**_ _I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' in any shape or form. But I do own my OC's._

 _ **A/N:** Okay, here is the next chapter of Calm Before the Storm. This story will follow the plot of the show, with some minor or major changes because of my OC's involvement. _

_This will be the chapter where Annabelle meets Damon, and it's based on 1x02 'Night of the Comet'._

 ** _Reviews:_**

 _whataliar_ : Thank you! I'm glad you like it so far. Yes, I wanted to make Jeremy have a sister who wouldn't judge him and practically smother him with lessons on how he should behave. I honestly hated how Elena acted towards him. I mean, seriously, did she really think that chasing after him and scolding him every minute of the day was gonna help him?! I wanted my OC to be very much different from Elena, because I honestly think that Jeremy, Caroline, Bonnie, and Matt all deserve someone better than her. I hate Elena, and my OC will have no problem pointing out all her mistakes, although it will probably be a bit more gentle than if I would have done it, because Annabelle will try to understand why her sister does what she does, seeing as she also suffered the loss of their parents. But afterwards, when Elena just continues making worse and worse decisions, I can promise you that Annabelle's demeanor towards her sister will change. And thank you for taking a guess on who Layla is. Many people have wrote about Katherine's sister or someone else from 1864 being Damon's girlfriend, but I didn't want to be so obvious, so I decided on something else. The question who Layla is should mostly be answered in this chapter, although there are still things remaining that you don't know about her.

 _xTheSecretDiaries_ : Thank you! I tak, Polka :D

 **Love Also Has Thorns**

 **Chapter 2**

 **The Night of the Comet**

After taking her everyday morning shower, Annabelle put on her clothes for the day, which consisted of light sky-blue buttoned up blouse with 3/4 sleeves, dark skinny jeans, knee-high milk chocolate brown boots, and a white scarf. She then combed the front strands of her hair back, pinning it on top of her head, before putting the rest of her hair up in a messy half-bun, grabbing her bag and leaving her room, trying to get herself ready for the next day she had to face.

"Do I look adult?" Jenna grabbed Annabelle's arm, stopping her in her tracks as soon as she stepped out of her bedroom, "As in respectfully parental?" the strawberry blonde asked, looking down at her fitting, dark blue, short-sleeved dress that went down to her knees.

"Depends on where you're going," Annabelle replied.

"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference," Jenna responded, walking down the hallway to look at herself in the mirror, with Annabelle following. "Hair up or down?"

"Sexy stewardess," Annabelle said as Jenna pulled her hair up to receive an opinion from her niece.

"Boozy housewife," Elena said as she came out of her room just as Jenna put her hair down, letting it fall loosely on her shoulders.

"Up it is," the strawberry blonde said, looking at her eldest niece with slightly wide eyes, making her chuckle.

"You're feisty today," Annabelle observed with a small smirk, looking at her sister.

"I fell good, which is rare, so I've decided to go with it," Elena said, "Fly free, walk on sunshine, and all that stuff," she said as Annabelle walked down the hallways to peer into her brother's room, only to see it empty.

"Where's Jeremy?" she asked, standing behind her aunt and making eye contact with her in the mirror.

"He left early," Jenna replied, "Something about getting to wood shop early to finish a birdhouse," she said, and Annabelle and Elena shared a look, before the younger twin made eye contact with the strawberry blonde in the mirror. "There is no wood shop, is there?"

"No," Annabelle whispered, shaking her head slowly.

"Yeah,"

* * *

"Originally discovered nearly five centuries ago, it hasn't been over Mystic Falls in over 145 years," Mr. Tanner told his class, "Now, the comet will be its brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration. Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Ms. Gilbert?" Mr. Tanner asked the two teenagers, who have been staring at each other and smiling for the past few minutes, completely in daze, in their own world.

Annabelle barely managed to stifle her laugh as she looked down, only to be elbowed by her sister, who smiled as the bell rang.

* * *

"I'm confused," Caroline spoke as she, Annabelle, and Bonnie walked down the school hallway. "Are you psychic, or clairvoyant?"

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch," Bonnie said. "My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor, so I kind of tuned out. Crazy family? Yes. Witches? I don't think so,"

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guys from last night,"

"What guy?" Annabelle asked, and Bonnie shrugged.

"I have no idea," she said, before turning to the blonde. "I didn't see him, you did,"

"Why didn't you just talk to him?" Annabelle asked, and Caroline shrugged.

"I don't know. I was drunk," she said, making the two brunettes laugh.

* * *

"Hey!" Annabelle called out as she saw her sister and Matt walking together outside of school during their break, making the two stop so that she could catch up with them. "How's Vicki?" she asked, just to be polite, knowing that Jeremy and Matt were both very worried about the girl.

"They're keeping her overnight to make sure there's no infection, but she should be able to come home tomorrow," Matt replied, smiling at Annabelle, knowing that she wasn't the biggest fan of his sister.

"That's good news," Elena said.

"Yeah,"

"Did you get in touch with you mom?" Annabelle asked gently, knowing that the absentee mom was a bit of a sore subject for Matt.

"Called and left a message," Matt replied. "She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend, so... we'll see how long it takes her to come rushing home,"

"Well, Vicki's lucky that she's okay," Annabelle said, and Elena and Matt nodded, none of them noticing Stefan, who was sitting a few feet away with his back towards them, listening in on their conversation.

"I know, and now there's talk of some missing campers," Matt said.

"Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?" Annabelle asked, curiously, and Matt nodded with a small sarcastic smile.

"She said it was a vampire," he said, and the two brunettes stopped in their tracks, looking at him with wide eyes full of disbelief.

"What?" they both asked, barely stopping themselves from laughing.

"Yeah, she waked up last night and mutters, 'vampire', and then passes out,"

"Okay, now that's kind of weird," Annabelle said, silently questioning the Donovan girl's sanity.

"I think she was drunk," Matt said with a small smile, before turning to Elena, "So what's up with you and the new guy?" he asked, his eyes now on Stefan, making the two sisters turn around to look at Stefan, who was sitting on one of the picnic tables with his back towards them.

"Matt, the last thing I want to do is hurt you," Elena said.

"You know, I'm... I'm actually gonna go back to the hospital. I want to be there when Vicki wakes up, get the real story about last night," Matt said, looking at Elena sadly, making Annabelle look at him sympathetically.

"Okay," Elena whispered, and Annabelle gave him a quick hug goodbye before he walked away. Annabelle, after watching Matt's retreating back for a few seconds, turned around to look at her sister, only to see her looking somewhere else. Furrowing her brows questioningly, Annabelle followed her gaze, only to see that the spot where Stefan sat only a minute ago was now completely empty, with no trace of the Salvatore.

* * *

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom," Bonnie spoke to Caroline, Elena, and Annabelle as the four girls sat at a table outside of Mystic Grill. "The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity,"

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot, and she told you about aliens," Caroline mocked, before turning to Elena. "So then what?"

"So then nothing," Elena shrugged.

"You and Stefan _talked_ all night?" Caroline questioned in disbelief, looking at Elena skeptically. "There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"

"Nope. We didn't go there,"

"Not even a handshake?" Caroline continued. "I mean, Elena, we are your friends, and Anna is your _sister_. Okay? You are supposed to share the smut,"

"We just talked for hours," Elena said, simply.

"Okay, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already," Caroline said, and Bonnie and Annabelle both looked at her like she just grew a second head. "Okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, _sex_ ,"

"Profound," Annabelle said sarcastically, making Caroline smack her playfully.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie suddenly spoke up, and the two girls turned their heads, only to see Elena getting up from her seat and grabbing her things.

"Caroline's right," Elena said, and Annabelle looked at her in disbelief.

"She is?"

"Yup. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it, instead of doing what I stared the day saying I was going to do," Elena shrugged, and Bonnie and Annabelle stared at her with wide eyes, while Caroline stared at her in shock as well, but with a smile on her lips, "And _you_ ," Elena pointed at her sister, "Are coming with me," she said, before grabbing Annabelle wrist and pulling her out of her seat.

"What, why?!" Annabelle exclaimed, not wanting to be anywhere near her sister and Stefan if they were going to have sex.

"To make sure I don't chicken out," Elena shrugged with an innocent smile, before pulling Annabelle along, while the younger twin glanced back at Bonnie with wide eyes before groaning. _Oh, God_ , was the only thought going through her head.

* * *

"I cannot _believe_ you dragged me here," Annabelle said to her sister as the two stopped at the front door of the Salvatore Boarding House, where Stefan was living with his uncle.

"Oh, stop complaining," Elena shushed her, making Annabelle glare at her.

"Well, we're here. Can I leave now?" Annabelle nearly begged, and Elena simply gave her a look.

"No," she said, making Annabelle sigh in irritation, before pulling the string that was attached to the doorbell. After not hearing any movement from inside, Elena glanced at her sister before stepping forward and knocking on the door, but as she did that, the door slowly opened by itself. The two girls shared a look, before Elena shrugged and took a few steps forward, peaking through the door, "Stefan?!" she called out, but there was no answer.

Elena glanced back at her sister, before motioning for Annabelle to follow her as she slowly walked further into the house, making Annabelle sigh but follow nonetheless. The two sisters walked down the hallway, and looked around the big space filled with magnificent artifacts.

"Stefan?!" Elena called out again, but was met with silence. After a few seconds, the girls heard creaking, and turned around, only to see that the door they entered through remained the exact same way it was before. They took a few steps forward, wanting to see if anyone was coming, but were cut off when a crow suddenly flew in. They quickly ducked as the crow flew above their heads, before turning around, only for Annabelle to come face to face with a tall, incredibly handsome man, who seemed to be a few years older than her, with short black hair, icy blue eyes, and a perfect jawline.

"Uh, we're sorry for barging in," Annabelle quickly apologized as the man continued to stare at her, glancing at Elena once in a while, "The door was..." Annabelle trailed off as she turned around, only to see that the door was now closed, "Open," she finished, her voice laced with confusion.

"You must be Annabelle," the man spoke up, looking into her eyes intensely, before looking at Elena, "Which would make you Elena," he said. "I'm Damon, Stefan's brother,"

"He didn't tell me he had a brother," Elena said, though Annabelle vaguely recalled what Stefan told them.

 _"Any siblings?"_

 _"None that I talk to,"_

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag," Damon said, before stepping aside, "Please, come," he said, gesturing for the girls to enter further into the house, which they did a bit warily. "I'm sure Stefan will be along any second,"

"Wow," was all Annabelle could say as they entered a huge room filled with many magnificent artifacts that looked _centuries_ old. The room itself was larger than the whole first floor of the Gilberts' house, " _This_ is your living room?" Annabelle asked in disbelief and awe as she looked around.

"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste," Damon said, looking around the room, before looking down at Elena, "I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one," he said, before taking in a deep breath, "Nearly destroyed him," he said, though Annabelle could hear sarcasm and mocking in his voice.

"The last one?" Elena questioned.

"Yeah. Katherine? His girlfriend?" Damon hinted, but Elena simply shook her head, clueless. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet,"

"Nope," Elena said awkwardly, looking up instead of at Damon.

"Oops, well, I'm sure it'll come up now," Damon said, though Annabelle could easily tell that he did not feel sorry for mentioning Katherine at all. In fact, she could tell that that was his intention, "Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. I mean, that's how Katherine felt when he failed to tell her about Layla,"

"Layla?" Elena asked, and Damon nodded, his eyes fluttering to Annabelle, who was silent throughout the conversation, for a second.

"Yeah. First love?" Damon said, "Then Katherine comes along, steals his heart, and that did not end well," he said, before shrugging. "But we all know how those relationships end, anyway,"

"You say that like every relationship is doomed to end," Annabelle finally spoke up, eyeing Damon, who merely shrugged, curiously.

"I'm a fatalist," he said simply, and that was when Annabelle saw Stefan coming up to stand behind Damon and Elena in the doorway of the living room, "Hello, Stefan," Damon smirked without even so much as glancing over his shoulder, making Elena turn around.

"Elena, Annabelle, I didn't know you were coming over," Stefan said, his voice unusually hard.

"I know, I should've called, I just-" Elena started saying, not seeming to notice Stefan's weird demeanor.

"Oh, don't be silly," Damon cut her off as he and Annabelle took a few steps forward in order to stand beside her, "You're both welcome any time. Aren't they, Stefan?" Damon smirked at his brother, who was simply staring at him coldly. "You know, I should break out the family photo albums, or some home movies. _But..._ " he looked at Elena in particular, "I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker," he said, making Annabelle and Elena smile in amusement.

"And you were?" Annabelle asked, her tone playfully challenging, making the smirk on Damon's face grow.

"Thank you for stopping by, girls," Stefan cut in, still staring at his brother, "It's nice to see you," he said, clearly hinting for them to leave, making Elena frown.

"Yeah, we should probably go," she said in a bit saddened voice, glancing at her sister before turning back to Damon. "It was nice to meet you, Damon,"

"Great meeting you, too, Elena," he said, shaking her hand. Elena gave him a nod, before slowly stepping towards Stefan in order to get to the door.

"It was nice meeting you, Damon," Annabelle said politely with a smile, and Damon smiled at her, glancing at Stefan, who was still watching him, with a smirk for a second, before looking down at the younger Gilbert twin.

"It was my pleasure," he smirked charmingly, before raising her hand up to his lips and placing a kiss on her knuckles, making her smile and raise her eyebrows slightly, intrigued by the older Salvatore brother.

"Stefan?" Elena spoke up, and Annabelle turned her head, only to see that Stefan was blocking their way out of the living room while still staring at his brother coldly, "Stefan?" Elena said again, and Stefan stepped aside after a moment, making Elena look at him in disbelief at his attitude, while Annabelle simply sighed and pushed her sister forward so that they could leave, since they were clearly not wanted there at the moment. As she passed him, Annabelle gave Stefan a small smile, before following her sister down the hallway and out through the door.

As soon as the two disappeared from their sight, Damon whistled.

"Great gal," he said, referring to Elena. "Her sister, though, she's got spunk," he smirked as he recalled how comfortably and playfully Annabelle acted around him. "You, on the other hand, look pooped. Did you over-exert yourself today? Let me guess - hospital," he said as Stefan walked down the steps and into the living room, walking past him.

"Someone had to clean up your mess," Stefan said.

"Well, were you successful? Did the powers of persuasion work?" Damon asked with a smirk as Stefan turned around to look at him. "Remember, if you don't feed properly, none of those little tricks work right,"

"How long were Annabelle and Elena here?" Stefan asked, ignoring his brother's taunting.

"Were you worried, Stefan? Scared we may be doomed to repeat the past?" Damon chuckled humorlessly. "Isn't that why you play your little game, 'I'm a high school human'?"

"I'm not playing any game,"

"Of course you are. We both know the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you rip it open and feed on it," Damon said as he took a few steps forward to stand only inches away from his brother.

"What kind of game are you playing... Damon?"

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?" Damon smirked.

* * *

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues," Elena spoke, referring to Stefan, as she, Jenna, and Annabelle stood in their kitchen later that day, after the two sisters returned from the boarding house.

"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend," Jenna said lightly, trying to brighten the atmosphere, "Wait until you date a guy with mommy issues, or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues," she said, and the two brunettes shared a look as Elena finished putting the chocolate topping on her ice cream. And while she started eating her ice cream to 'wallow in the right way', Jenna and Annabelle both looked up as the front door opened, "Jeremy," Jenna spoke up, her voice stern, and Jeremy quickly tried to go upstairs as he saw her furious expression, "Jeremy, where were you?" Jenna demanded as she and Annabelle quickly stepped into the hallway and stopped at the bottom of the staircase, while Elena simply shook her head at her little brother.

"More stoner stories? Look, Jenna, I get were cool, and that's, that's cool," Jeremy gave Jenna a sarcastic smile and thumbs-up, before starting to head upstairs.

"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Jenna's expression turned into a furious one as she threw the apple she was holding at Jeremy, the fruit hitting the teenager's back, making Annabelle's jaw drop, since this was the first time Jenna lost her calm demeanor since she came to live with them.

"Ow, why?!" Jeremy exclaimed as he turned around to look at his aunt with wide eyes. "Why, why did you do that?"

"Listen up! Quit ditching class, or you're grounded. No discussion," Jenna said, staring at her nephew coldly.

"Parental authority, I like it," Jeremy smiled, giving the strawberry blonde another sarcastic thumbs-up, "Sleep tight," he said, before turning around and heading upstairs, making Annabelle sigh and shake her head.

* * *

"Tonight! Nigh of the comet. Would you like a program?" Bonnie asked people in the streets as she, Elena, and Annabelle walked down the streets of Mystic Falls, handing out programs about the celebrations that were going to take place that night to passerbys. "He didn't call, huh?"

"Or text," Elena said, referring to Stefan, as Annabelle handed a young woman a program. The middle Gilbert decided to wear normal jeans with a white tank top, brown panther-patterned flats, and a loose beige sweater. Her hair fell beautifully on her shoulders in styled waves, and her ears were decorated by small diamond earrings. "Then I realized we never even exchanged that stuff," Elena said as she handed a man a program. "We've never gotten to the texting part,"

"That's an important milestone in any relationship," Annabelle said as she and Bonnie handed a young couple programs about the celebrations for the passing of the comet.

"Isn't it?" Elena agreed, before handing another man a program. "The timing was wrong, anyway,"

"When is it ever right?" Annabelle asked rhetorically.

"I'm not ready, Anna," Elena said firmly, and Annabelle sighed. She knew from the day Elena met Stefan that there was an undeniable attraction between the two, and she knew, despite what Elena just said, that they will end up together sooner or later.

"Who is?" Bonnie asked rhetorically, also sharing Annabelle's view, making Elena stop.

"At least I put myself out there," Elena defended herself, and Annabelle gave her a look.

"Is that what you're calling it?" she asked, trying to be patient with her sister but finding it quite hard.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked, looking down, though her voice immediately betrayed that she knew exactly what her sister was talking about.

"What she means, is that all we're hearing is reasons why you can't," Bonnie explained, her voice soft.

* * *

Bonnie, Elena, and Annabelle walked that evening, trying not to bump into many people, who have all gathered in the Town Square to watch the comet.

"Hey, I got you candles," Caroline grinned as she walked up to the three brunettes, handing Annabelle and Bonnie a candle, seeing as Elena already had one.

"Hi," Annabelle smiled, and let Caroline link her arm through hers.

"Hey," Elena greeted Matt, who walked up to the four girls.

"Hey," he greeted back, before lighting Elena's candle with his own.

"Thank you,"

"You're welcome," he smiled at her softly, and she gave him an awkward smile before walking away to light another person's, who turned out to be Stefan, candle, while Matt stared after her for a second before lighting Annabelle's candle, who gave him a smile in thanks.

As Elena and Stefan walked off a few feet away, Annabelle, Bonnie, Caroline, and Matt were joined by Tyler, who immediately made himself comfortable on a bench beside them.

"Matt," Annabelle called gently, looking at her friend, who was staring at Elena and Stefan with a heartbroken expression, "Hey," Annabelle said softly, putting her hand on his arm, making him snap out of his daze and look at her. Knowing that a talk about how he has to 'move on' or anything like that would only dampen his mood further, she simply gave him a smile and grabbed his hand, pulling him closer to her and the others so that he would be more tempted to concentrate on their voices in stead of the couple a few feet away.

After a few minutes, Annabelle excused herself from the conversation she had with her friends and started heading towards her sister, wanting to ask her if she had any idea where Jeremy was, only to stop as Elena's voice reached her ears.

"It's okay. We met, and we talked, and it was epic, but... then the sun came up and reality set in," the eldest Gilbert said, her eyes on the Salvatore in front of her, while Annabelle started taking small steps towards them again, silently cursing her sister for blowing off a relationship that didn't even have a chance to start only because she was upset that Stefan didn't tell her about Katherine, or even Layla. It's not like Elena was eager to talk about her past with Matt, so why on Earth was she upset that Stefan didn't tell her about his love life after only knowing her for a few days? "So..." Elena trailed off, before blowing out her candle and walking away. Annabelle sighed, shaking her head, before walking over to the Salvatore.

"Don't take this to heart," she said, making Stefan's eyes snap over to her as she stopped in front of him. "My sister has an annoying habit of getting upset over petty things,"

"No, she has every right to be upset with me," Stefan said, and Annabelle shook her head with a small smile.

"No, she doesn't," she disagreed, her voice soft, making Stefan look at her in surprise. Why is that girl, who's known him for only a few days and talked to him only once or twice, defending his reasons, reasons she doesn't even know, from her own sister? "It's your life. You and Elena have known each other for only four days; I honestly think it's quite unfair for her to expect you to immediately tell her your whole life story, especially since, from what I know, _she's_ not exactly rushing to tell _you_ all about herself either. But... as much as I hate to admit it, she has a reason behind it," Annabelle said, grimacing slightly. "It's been a hard couple of months. For our whole family, and... after getting hurt so bad in such a short amount of time... she's just afraid to let anyone new in, because she's afraid that she will lose them, too,"

"Why are you telling me this?" Stefan asked her, softly and curiously.

"I like you," she smiled at him, "I think you're a great guy, and guys like that don't come around very often these days. My sister deserves to be happy after everything she's been through, and I believe you're the key to that happiness," she said, looking at him with a smile that he couldn't help but mirror, "Like I said, don't take this to heart. All she needs is a bit of persuasion, and trust me when I say that once she realizes what a great guy she let slip through her fingers, she'll come running back to you, willing to wait for you to open up to her," Annabelle said, and, with one last smile, started heading back to her friends.

"Anna!" Stefan called her, and she turned around, a bit surprised yet glad that he actually called her 'Anna' instead of a formal 'Annabelle'. That means they are closer rather than further from becoming friends, "Thank you," he said, smiling at her gratefully, making her smile and nod. Now, all she could do was hope that her sister will wake up and open up to the opportunities the world is offering her.

* * *

"Hey," Annabelle turned away from Caroline as soon as she heard the familiar voice, and turned around, only to see Jeremy walking up to them.

"Hey, I was looking for you," she said, but Jeremy was too worried to respond.

"Has anyone seen Vicki?" he asked.

"You're her stalker, you tell us," Tyler said.

"I can't find her," Jeremy said, and Matt looked up, worry clear in his eyes.

"She probably found somebody else to party with," Tyler said. "Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced,"

"What's with the 'pill pusher'?" Annabelle asked Tyler, glancing between him and Jeremy.

"Ask him," Tyler simply said.

"You want to do this right now?" Jeremy asked him in disbelief, while Annabelle looked at him with shock and disappointment.

"Are you dealing?" she asked.

"She's never gonna go for you," Tyler said, referring to Vicki.

"She already did," Jeremy said, glaring at him, making both Annabelle and Elena look at him in shock. "Over and over and over again,"

"Yeah, right," Tyler nodded sarcastically, though, by the look in his eyes, Annabelle guessed that he actually believed Jeremy.

"You slept with Vicki Donovan?" Caroline asked Jeremy in disbelief. "I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?"

"There's no way,"

"And I didn't even have to force her into it," Jeremy sneered, glaring at Tyler.

"What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" Matt asked, his voice suspicious.

"Nothing, man, just ignore him," Tyler said dismissively, "He's a punk," he said, and Annabelle glared at him.

"You know what? I've got a great idea," she spoke up, successfully gaining everyone's attention. "How about we all just shut up and help Matt find his sister?"

"We'll check the back," Bonnie nodded in agreement, gesturing to herself and Caroline.

"I'll check the Square," Matt said, giving Annabelle a nod in thanks.

"I'll come with you," Jeremy said, but Annabelle quickly rounded the table and grabbed his arm.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You are coming with _me_ ," she said, pulling him with her.

"So, that's your game now? Dealing?" Elena asked as she caught up with her siblings, making Annabelle sigh quietly in irritation. Honestly, the last thing they needed was for Elena get ahead of herself again. Annabelle wanted to take that chance to talk to her brother, not to have Elena scold him again. It's not like it was having any impact.

"I'm not dealing," Jeremy protested.

"Look, I'm sick of the tough love speech, Jer, it's clearly having no impact," Elena hissed.

"You and Jenna, between the two of you, it's enough already!" Jeremy snapped, and Elena didn't miss how he didn't mention Annabelle.

"We can stop, if you want. Send you to a therapist where you'll be forced to deal with it, or to rehab where you'll sit in group and tell some stranger how you let your life fall apart," Elena said, before her voice softened. "Or you could talk to me,"

"Well, unless you mean, 'talk to Anna', I vote for none of the above," Jeremy said, before walking away from his sisters. Annabelle sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes and trying to calm herself down so that she wouldn't lash out at Elena for pushing Jeremy even further away. Now it's going to be even harder for her to reach the part of him that is going to be willing to open up to her.

While Annabelle tried not to get into an argument with her sister, Elena couldn't help but feel jealous. Why is Jeremy constantly pushing _her_ away, but has no problem talking to _Annabelle_?

* * *

As soon as they returned home, Elena ran upstairs and to her room, leaving Annabelle to slowly follow and wonder what on Earth was wrong with her. However, once she reached the top of the staircase, she stopped as she heard rustling from her brother's room.

"Jer?" she called out, confused, since she was sure that Jeremy wasn't home yet.

"No, it's me. The hypocrite control," came Jenna's voice, and Annabelle's brows furrowed as she walked into Jeremy's room with a small, amused smile.

"What are you doing?" she asked her aunt as she saw the strawberry blonde rummaging through one of Jeremy's drawers.

"I've become my worst nightmare," Jenna stated as she straightened up to look at her niece, "The authority figure, who has to violate a 15-year-old's privacy," she said as she stormed across the room to pick up one of Jeremy's shoes, now leaving a clear view of the room for Annabelle. The sheets on the bed were completely messed up, along with the pillows, and shoes and socks were scattered all over the floor, "Jackpot," Jenna said as she held up the object, "I see the hiding haven't gotten any more creative," she said, eyeing the shoe.

"What brought this on?" Annabelle asked curiously, leaning against the door frame.

"Your ass-hat of a History teacher shamed me good yesterday," Jenna said as she started searching through another one of Jeremy's drawers.

"Ah, you got Tannered," Annabelle chuckled humorlessly. "Been there,"

"'Discover the impossible, Ms. Sommers'," Jenna imitated Mr. Tanner's deep voice, making Annabelle chuckle quietly. "Got it. Thanks. Like I didn't know I was screwing up,"

"You're not screwing up, Aunt Jenna," Annabelle protested, shaking her head.

"Yes, I am. You know why? Because I'm not _her_ ," Jenna, and Annabelle sighed quietly as she pushed off the door frame and slowly walked over to sit on Jeremy's bed, knowing exactly whom her aunt meant, "She made everything look so easy. You know, high school, marriage, having you," Jenna rambled, before stopping as tears welled up in her eyes, while Annabelle watched her sadly, "I can't do it. I'm gonna say or do the wrong thing, and he's gonna get worse, and it's gonna be my fault," she said, her voice cracking the tiniest bit, before she slowly walked over to sit next to Annabelle. "It's impossible,"

"No, it's not," Annabelle shook her head, her voice soft, before pulling her aunt into a hug, "This is just the fear talking. You're a little scared... we all are, but that's it. You're the best aunt anyone could ever ask for, and don't let that jackass, or the fear, or anyone else tell you differently, okay?" she said sternly, and felt Jenna nod against her neck.

Annabelle let a small smile slip onto her lips as her eyes traveled to the doorway, only to see Elena standing there, leaning against the door frame. Annabelle could see that her words did not only have impact on Jenna, but on her sister as well. And she knew exactly what Elena was thinking about at the moment.

'Go,' she mouthed as the two locked eyes, and Elena nodded before turning around and running downstairs, "Are you okay?" Annabelle asked her aunt as they pulled away, and Jenna nodded, quickly wiping the tears off of her cheeks.

"You know, I'm starting to question which one of us is the adult here," she joked, making Annabelle chuckle, just glad that Jenna was smiling again.

"Jeremy will get through this," she said firmly. "He'll be fine, we will _all_ be fine,"

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Well, I hope you all loved reading this chapter just as much as I loved writing it! It was really interesting to write Damon's reaction, as well as Stefan's, to Annabelle. The next chapter will explore that a little more, starting off in _Friday Night Bites_. I want to take Season 1 to generally and descriptively establish and show Annabelle's relationship with everyone (Damon, Stefan, Caroline, Bonnie, Jeremy, Jenna, Matt, Tyler, as well as Alaric later on). I hope you liked Annabelle's conversation with Stefan!

I used this chapter to show that Annabelle will definitely not always agree with Elena and her decisions. In fact, she will more often disagree than agree. Annabelle cares deeply for her sister, and wants what's best for her, but Elena's attitude and decisions (as well as crappy personality) will eventually drive her over the edge. I, personally, hate Elena, and I want to use Annabelle to show the reasons why. What's difficult for me right now, is that I have to ignore all the hatred I hold for Elena at the moment after watching all of the seasons, and I have to try to remember how I felt about Elena at the very beginning of the show, before she made all the mistakes and horrible decisions that made me hate her. But, as you can see, my view of Elena's attitude is already showing in the story.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and don't forget to review! Tell me what you think of Annabelle. What do you think about the plot so far? Who do you think Layla really is, and what missing pieces about her do you think there are? What do you think about Annabelle's relationship with Jeremy? Why do you think he trust her more than Elena? What do you think about Annabelle's relationship with Jenna? What about Matt? Caroline? Bonnie? Please review and tell me what you think about this story!


	3. Friday Night Bites

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' in any shape or form. But I do own my OC's._

 ** _A/N:_** _This chapter will follow 1x03 (Friday Night Bites) and give you a bit more information about Annabelle, and Layla, and her relationship with her friends, particularly Caroline. There will also be some hints about who Layla was to the Salvatore brothers other than Stefan's first love, and you will get to see some kind of relationships developing between Annabelle and Damon, and Annabelle and Stefan._

 **Love Also Has Thorns**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Friday Night Bites**

"I'm not saying don't date the guy," Bonnie said as she, Elena, and Annabelle, who was wearing a white, loose, short-sleeved blouse, light brown flats, and normal blue jeans with a light brown belt around her waist, with her hair falling loosely on her shoulders in styled waves, got out of her car in the school parking lot after Elena told her and Annabelle that she and Stefan kissed the night before. "I'm just saying take it slow,"

"You were the one who said to go for it," Elena frowned, looking at Bonnie in confusion.

"Now I'm saying take it slow," Bonnie said, and Annabelle looked at her weirdly, not understanding where the dark-skinned girl was coming from.

"Why the about-face?" the younger Gilbert twin asked, looking at Bonnie.

"It's not an about-face," Bonnie shook her head, before looking at Elena. "You're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field,"

"Oh, because I'm so that girl," Elena said sarcastically.

"No, seriously, what are you not saying?" Annabelle asked her friend.

"It's stupid," Bonnie tried to dismiss the subject, but Elena quickly grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Bonnie..."

"What?"

"Spit it out," Elena ordered, and Bonnie sighed.

"I accidentally touched Stefan, and I got a really bad feeling," she shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. However, as soon as Bonnie said, that, Annabelle stiffened.

 _"You can call me Anna," she smiled at him, reaching out to shake his hand, making him smile, his eyes remaining on her for a few more seconds. However, as soon as their hands made contact, her smile was immediately wiped off her face as a cold tingle ran up her arm and down her spine, nearly making her shudder in fear._

 _"You okay?" Stefan frowned, looking at her in confusion as she quickly let go of his hand as if it burned her._

 _"Yeah," Annabelle faked a smile, trying to recover from the horrible feeling she got when her hand touched the Salvatore's._

"Is that it?" Elena asked her friend, not noticing the difference in Annabelle's posture as she continued to look at Bonnie, "Bonnie," she quickly pulled the dark-skinned girl back as Bonnie attempted to walk away.

"It was _bad_ -bad," Bonnie said, a fearful look in her eyes, and Annabelle turned to look at her with an unreadable expression.

 _"It was nice meeting you, Damon," Annabelle said politely with a smile, and Damon smiled at her, glancing at Stefan, who was still watching him, with a smirk for a second, before looking down at the younger Gilbert twin._

 _"It was my pleasure," he smirked charmingly, before raising her hand up to his lips and placing a kiss on her knuckles, making her smile and raise her eyebrows slightly, intrigued by the older Salvatore brother. But anyone who knew the beautiful brunette well enough could tell that her smile was fake. She desperately tried not to shudder at the cold, terrifying feeling she got when her hand touched Damon's. The feeling was even worse than when she touched Stefan. However, fortunately for Annabelle, neither of the Salvatore brothers knew her well enough to tell that something was wrong, and Elena simply wasn't paying attention as she continued to stare at Stefan._

"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" Elena asked Bonnie, neither of the girls noticing the change in Annabelle.

"You know what? I'm just concerned," Bonnie replied with a smile. "This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend,"

"And I love you for it, I do," Elena said as she put her hands on Bonnie's shoulders, while Annabelle tried to make herself look as normal and casual as possible, trying to ignore the stupid flashbacks and convince herself that it is just a simple coincidence that she and Bonnie both got a bad feeling when they touched Stefan, and that there is nothing wrong with the Salvatores, "But I feel good. It's been a hard year, and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what, Stefan is a big part of that," Elena said, and Bonnie sighed as she smiled at her friend, deciding to give it a shot for Elena's sake.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked as she glanced at Annabelle, making Elena also turn to look at her sister and frown when she saw how stiff the younger Gilbert girl was.

"Uh, yeah," Annabelle nodded, putting on a smile. "Yeah, I'm good,"

* * *

"Good morning, Elena," Stefan greeted with a smile as he came up to the three girls while they slowly walked toward the school building, "Good morning, Anna. Bonnie," he smiled.

"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline," Bonnie told the two sisters as she stiffened, "She's not answering her phone, so... see you, guys," she said, before quickly walking away.

"Bonnie, wait..." Elena tried to stop her friend, but Bonnie kept walking, not wanting to be near the Salvatore.

"She doesn't like me very much," Stefan noticed as he looked at the two girls, his eyes stopping on Annabelle for a moment longer as he noticed that there was something off about her.

"She doesn't know you," Elena said, not noticing the concern in Stefan's eyes as he stared at Annabelle. "She's my best friend, she's just looking out for me, but when she does, she will love you,"

"Um, I'm gonna go catch up with Bonnie," Annabelle said, barely glancing at Stefan as she looked at Elena, who gave her a weird look, finally noticing the difference in her behavior, "I'll see you later," Annabelle said to her sister, before quickly walking away, not sparing Stefan so much as a glance.

"What's wrong with her?" Stefan asked, but not rudely; concernedly, as he and Elena stared after the younger Gilbert, making Elena sigh.

"I don't know," she replied, wondering just what the hell was wrong with her sister today.

As Annabelle walked away, she couldn't help but silently curse herself for acting so out of character. But... she couldn't help it. At first, she simply decided to ignore the bad feeling she got after she touched Stefan, and then Damon, thinking that it was nothing and that she was just simply being worried about her sister's well-being... but after what Bonnie said, that she also got a very bad feeling when she touched Stefan, Annabelle couldn't help but think that there was something more to it than just slight paranoia or anything of that sort.

"Here's what we're gonna do," Elena said, putting her hand on Stefan's arm, gently pulling him to a stop. "Are you free tonight?"

"Yes,"

"Perfect," she smiled. "Dinner, my house, 8:00. You, me, Anna, and Bonnie. You and Bonnie will spend some quality time, and she'll get to see what a great guy you are. Mission accomplished,"

* * *

"World War II ended in...?" Mr. Tanner asked his class, "Anyone got anything?" he asked, as Annabelle doodled in her notebook, bored out of her mind. _Is he serious? We learned about World War II in 6th grade!_ "Ms. Juan?" the girl Mr. Tanner called on merely shrugged, "1945. Pearl Harbor. Ms. Gilbert?" Mr. Tanner asked, and Annabelle looked up, only to see that the teacher was looking at Elena, who was whispering something to Stefan.

"Hmm?" Elena turned to the teacher, obviously not hearing the question, making Annabelle roll her eyes.

"Pearl Harbor?" Mr. Tanner repeated, and Annabelle sighed quietly in irritation. _We also learned that in 6th grade. I thought this was supposed to be our junior year, not a repeat of elementary school._

"Um..."

"December 7, 1941," Stefan answered for Elena.

"Thank you, _Ms. Gilbert_ ," Mr. Tanner said, looking at Stefan pointedly, making everyone, even Annabelle, chuckle.

"Anytime," Stefan simply smiled.

"Very well. The Fall of the Berlin Wall," Mr. Tanner said.

"1989," Stefan immediately answered, making the teacher look at him. "I'm good with dates, sir,"

"Are you?" Mr. Tanner challenged, "How good? Keep it to the year," he said, and Stefan nodded. "Civil Rights Act,"

"1964,"

"John F. Kennedy assassination,"

"1963,"

"Martin Luther King,"

"'68,"

"Lincoln,"

"1865,"

"Roe vs. Wade,"

"1973,"

"Brown vs. Board,"

"1954,"

"The Battle of Gettysburg,"

"1863,"

"Korean War,"

"1950 to 1953,"

"Ha!" Mr. Tanner exclaimed, making Annabelle jump and look at him as if he were crazy, "It ended in '52," he chuckled triumphantly, turning around to walk back to his desk after slowly walking closer to Stefan.

"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53," Stefan said, and Mr. Tanner looked at him coldly.

"Look it up! Somebody," he snapped, and many students reached for their phones. "Quickly!"

"It was 19..." one of the students looked at his phone, "53," he finished, barely stopping himself from laughing as many other students chuckled, and even started clapping just as the bell rang.

Annabelle sighed with a small smile on her lips, and looked down at her notebook, only to see that she covered an entire page with doodles throughout the class period. But her smile quickly faltered as she realized that she wrote the same thing over and over again: _8, 14, 22_.

* * *

Elena cleared her throat loudly to gain Bonnie's attention as she and Annabelle, who was now wearing a fitted purple tank top, black shorts, and black-gray-purple sneakers, her hair now braided from underneath with the braid traveling up to her pony tail, walked down the field after school, where many other girls from their school were, stretching and getting ready for practice.

"Oh, my God! You're here!" Bonnie exclaimed, jumping up to her feet and hugging Elena tightly.

"Yep. We can't be sad girls forever," Elena said as Bonnie let go of her and smiled at Annabelle, though both the dark-skinned girl and the younger twin wondered why she included Annabelle in the sentence, seeing as it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Annabelle to show up at cheer practice. While Elena completely shut herself out and stayed away from everyone after their parents' death, Annabelle spent as much time as possible with other people, and that also included cheer practice. Even though she didn't go to summer camp because her siblings needed her during the summer vacation, Bonnie quickly helped her catch up with the newest routines as soon as the cheerleaders returned from the camp, "The only way to get things back to the way they were are to do things that were," Elena continued as she started stretching, "Oh, and you're coming to dinner tonight," she added, looking at Bonnie.

"I am?"

"She is?" Bonnie and Annabelle asked at the same time, neither of them knowing where that idea came from.

"Mm-hmm," Elena nodded as Annabelle and Bonnie started stretching as well, "You two, me, and Stefan," Elena smiled, and the other two girls' smiles disappeared as they stared at her, "You have to give him a chance," Elena said, looking at Bonnie, before her gaze shifted to Annabelle. "And what's the matter with you today? Why are you suddenly so hostile towards him?"

"Tonight's no good," Bonnie shook her head, saving Annabelle from answering the question that even _she_ didn't know the answer to. "Have you two seen Caroline? I've texted her like a hundred times,"

"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett," Elena said sternly as her sister straightened up before doing a split. "You're going to be there. You both are,"

"Fine! I'll go," Bonnie agreed, though her expression was anything but one of joy or acceptance.

"Good,"

"If I have to," Annabelle sighed, standing up before doing a back-bend.

"You do," Elena said firmly.

* * *

"Seriously, where is Caroline?" Annabelle asked after she finished stretching and sat down on the ground next to Bonnie.

"I don't know," Elena frowned. "It's not like her,"

"I'll try her again," Bonnie said, quickly grabbing her phone and dialing Caroline's number.

"Uh..." Annabelle trailed off after she turned around when she heard loud music, only to see a light blue convertible, driven by a brunette man with Caroline in the passenger seat, and pointed at the blonde.

"Oh, my God," Bonnie said as Caroline leaned over to kiss the driver once he parked the car beside the field. "That must be the mystery guy from the Grill,"

"That's not a mystery guy, that's Damon Salvatore," Annabelle said as she, Elena, and Bonnie all got up from the ground to stand beside the other girls, who were all waiting for their captain.

"Salvatore, as in Stefan?" Bonnie asked in shock, and Annabelle and Elena nodded.

"I got the other brother," Caroline said to Elena as she got out of the car and walked past the three girls, "Hope you don't mind," she sang, "Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy," she said, putting her hands on her hips and standing in front of the squad, "Alright, let's start with the double pike, herkey hurdler. What do you say?" she asked as Elena and Annabelle looked over at Damon, who simply nodded at them with a smirk before driving off.

* * *

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8!" Caroline counted and watched as the cheerleading squad did the routine, Elena struggling in the front, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8! Elena, sweetie? Why don't you just observe today? Okay?" Caroline asked sweetly, and Elena sighed but nodded, walking past a few girls to stand in the very back and try to copy their moves, "Keep going! Okay! Do it again, from the top! Anna, you're doing great for not going to camp, good job! And 5, 6, 7, 8! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8!" Caroline continued as Elena slowly walked off, seeing Stefan in the high school's team football gear, playing on the field.

* * *

"You explain it," Bonnie said to her two best friends as they stood in the Gilberts' kitchen. "Last night, I'm watching 'Nine-O', a commercial break comes on, and I'm like, 'I bet it's that phone commercial!' And sure enough, it's the guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris, and he flies back, they take a picture..."

"Oh, come on," Elena laughed as she looked at her best friend, while Annabelle, who was now wearing dark navy blue jeans, a white, loose, 3/4 sleeved blouse, and beige flats, with her hair pinned back at the top and falling loosely on her shoulders in styled waves, carried a bowl from the other side of the kitchen. "That commercial's on a constant loop,"

"Fine. Well, how about this?" Bonnie spoke up, glancing at the two sisters, who were standing on either sides of her, "Today, I'm obsessed with numbers. Three numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22," she said, helping the two girls with preparing food for the dinner that Elena planned. As soon as those words left the dark-skinned girl's lips, Annabelle stiffened and looked at her with wide eyes, almost dropping the bowl she was holding in the process.

"Wait, what?" she asked, quietly but urgently as she stared at her best friend in shock, slowly putting the bowl down on the counter. Elena and Bonnie both turned to look at her, and frowned at how pale she suddenly turned.

"8, 14, and 22..." Bonnie repeated slowly as she stared at the brunette with furrowed eyebrows. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Uh..." Annabelle trailed off with a sigh as she kept her eyes on the counter, before looking up at her friend, "Would it freak you out if I told you that I keep seeing the same numbers?" she asked hesitantly, and Bonnie looked at her in shock, while Elena watched the exchange, quite amused, thinking that her sister and friend were just exaggerating. So what if they were thinking about the same numbers? It's just numbers, for goodness' sake!

"What?" Bonnie breathed out, and Annabelle nodded, both of the girls ignoring Elena, who chuckled, before turning around and going over to her book bag, which was still on the same chair in the kitchen where she left it after coming back from school earlier that day. She quickly rummaged through it before taking out her History notebook, and walked back to her friend and sister while flipping through the pages to find the one she was writing on earlier in class.

"Look," she said as she found the page she was looking for, and held out the notebook in front of her so that Bonnie could see the different doodles and the numbers 8, 14, and 22 wrote over and over again all over the page.

"What the...?" Bonnie trailed off in a whisper as she grabbed the notebook from Annabelle's hands, staring at the page in shock, before looking up at the younger twin with wide eyes, which were starting to fill with fear. Annabelle couldn't help but mirror the expression. She kept trying to convince herself that the bad feeling she got when she touched Stefan and Damon, and the obsession she had with those three numbers was nothing, that it was nothing to worry about, but after learning that Bonnie was seeing the same things and had the same feeling when she touched the younger Salvatore, she was starting to get scared. _What the hell is going on?_

"Maybe we should play the lottery," Elena suggested, mock seriously, making the two girls glare at her, which made her frown. She was only kidding, but her friend and sister seemed to be taking the whole thing very seriously, so she decided to soften her voice as she looked at Bonnie. "Have you talked to your grams?"

"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch," Bonnie said as she closed Annabelle's notebook and put it on the other counter a few feet away from the girls, while Annabelle took in a deep breath to calm herself down and started emptying the boxes with take-out food into the bowl, "I don't wanna be a witch," she said miserably, and Annabelle hummed in agreement. "Do you want to be a witch?"

"I don't want to be a witch," Annabelle quickly shook her head

"Neither do I," Elena said as she continued to prepare the food.

"You know, putting this in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody," Annabelle said to her sister, making the eldest Gilbert glare at her playfully.

"Why didn't you just let Anna cook?" Bonnie asked, knowing that Annabelle was the only one in the house who actually knew how to cook real food instead of microwaving take-out.

"Okay, serving spoons," Elena mused, ignoring Bonnie's question, which made the dark-skinned girl furrow her brows and look at Annabelle for an explanation, only for the middle Gilbert to shrug, not knowing why Elena didn't want her to cook. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was _Elena's_ boyfriend coming over, and _she_ wanted to be the one to do something for him _without_ her sister's help. Although Annabelle honestly did not understand how microwaving take-out was considered 'doing something for him'. "Where are the serving spoons?"

"Middle drawer on your left," Bonnie spoke up, and Elena looked at her for a second before opening the middle drawer on her left and taking out the serving spoons, making Bonnie and Annabelle glance at each other uncomfortably as they both stiffened.

"Okay, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times," Elena shrugged nonchalantly, and Annabelle gave her a look.

"Yeah, that's it," she said sarcastically, her posture still stiff as she tried to make sense of what was happening to both her _and_ Bonnie.

Elena frowned and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the doorbell ringing.

"Okay, he's here," she glanced at the door, before looking at her friend and sister. "Don't be nervous, just be your normal, loving selves," she smiled, before walking off to opened the door, while Annabelle and Bonnie sighed as they glanced at each other before continuing to put the food in the bowls.

"Birthday candles," Annabelle suddenly spoke up, and Bonnie looked over at her, confused.

"What?" she asked, but Annabelle ignored her as she reached her hand under the counter to open the drawer by her thigh. Bonnie kept looking at the Gilbert girl, confused, knowing that no birthday has been celebrated in that house for almost three months, ever since the twins' birthday, and that no one even remembered where the birthday candles were. However, her eyes widened as Annabelle opened the drawer, only to reveal birthday candles inside. "Did you...?"

"No," Annabelle shook her head, looking up at her with wide eyes. "I honestly didn't know where they were,"

* * *

The four teenagers sat at the dinner table in an extremely awkward and uncomfortable silence, with both Bonnie and Annabelle wishing that they were anywhere _but_ there at the moment.

"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked, desperately wanting to start a conversation and get rid of all the awkwardness in the air.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right," Stefan chuckled lightly, speaking mostly to Elena, who was sitting on his right, but glancing at Annabelle, who was on his other side, a few times, wondering what was wrong with her and why she suddenly seemed to stiff in his presence. Only last night she was telling him that she thinks he's a great guy and was encouraging him to not give up on Elena, and now she seemed to stiffen whenever he was in the same room as her. He was starting to get honestly concerned, the familiar feeling of protectiveness that he used to feel towards a girl with the same face as her a long time ago coming back.

"Bonnie, Anna, you should have seen Stefan today," Elena said with a bright smile after chuckling. "Tyler threw a ball right at him, and-"

"Yeah," Annabelle cut her off with a fake smile, not enjoying the fact that she was sitting so close to Stefan at all,"We heard," she said, and Elena frowned, while Stefan turned to look at her fully, his brows furrowed and his eyes worried as he tried searching her face for any sign that might give away what was wrong with her.

"Bonnie, why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena suggested after a short moment of silence, not wanting it to be awkward between them again.

"Um, divorced," Bonnie turned to look at Stefan after glaring at Elena. "No mom, live with my dad,"

"No, about the witches," Elena said, making Stefan, Annabelle, and Bonnie all look at her, the girls glaring while Stefan looked between Elena and Bonnie, intrigued, "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches," she said, before looking at Bonnie pointedly. "It's really cool,"

"'Cool' isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie shook her head.

"Well, it's certainly interesting," Stefan spoke up as Elena glared at her friend. "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic Druids that migrated here in the 1800s,"

"My family came by way of Salem," Bonnie said, and Stefan looked at her, intrigued.

"Really?" he asked, and Bonnie shrugged with an uneasy smile, "Salem witches?"

"Yeah," she chuckled uncomfortably, while Annabelle looked down at her plate as she felt Stefan's gaze move to her for a moment.

"I would say that's pretty cool," Stefan said, looking over at Elena, using the same adjective she used only a minute ago, making her smile.

"Really?" Annabelle spoke up this time, and Stefan's attention immediately turned to her as he nodded, "Why?" she asked curiously.

"Salem witches are... heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity," he explained, not breaking eye contact with her for even a second as a small smile started to grow on her lips.

"Yeah," Bonnie agreed, also now smiling, "They are," she said, and Elena chuckled with a small smile, glad to see her sister and best friend finally warm up to Stefan, not noticing how Stefan held Annabelle's gaze for a few more seconds, as if searching for something. Annabelle, however, noticed, though it didn't bother her this time, which surprised her. Bonnie also noticed his actions, and wondered what it was about Annabelle that pulled Stefan in, now noticing how the Salvatore's eyes were almost always glued to the younger Gilbert twin whenever they were in the same room. Bonnie could tell that Stefan was, indeed, falling for Elena, but there was clearly something about _Annabelle_ that pulled him in as well. Perhaps not necessarily in a romantic way, but there was definitely something.

Before the dark-skinned girl could jump to any conclusions, and before Elena noticed her boyfriend and sister still staring at each other, the doorbell rang, making Stefan snap out of his daze as the three girls looked up curiously.

"I'll get it," Annabelle muttered, not wanting Stefan to look at her any longer. At first, it didn't bother her, but after a few seconds she started to feel uncomfortable as his leaf-green eyes bore into her light blue ones, as if trying to read her, "Did you invite anyone else?" Annabelle looked at Elena over her shoulder as she got up from her chair and walked towards the front door.

"No," Elena replied with a furrowed brows, just as Annabelle opened the door.

"Surprise," Caroline smiled brightly at her best friend, "Bonnie said you and Elena were doing dinner, so we brought dessert," she explained with a smile, and it was only when Caroline used the word 'we' that Annabelle noticed Damon standing behind the blonde.

"Oh," the Gilbert girl smiled, looking down at the cake in Caroline's hands, which certainly looked delicious. It was, in fact, her favorite: strawberry cake with whipped cream on top.

"Hope you don't mind," Damon spoke up with a somewhat of a sarcastic smile as Caroline stepped inside and rounded Annabelle, handing the brunette the cake as soon as they stood a step or two away from the doorstep, just as Stefan walked up to them, with Elena trailing behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked, looking at his brother with a hard gaze as he positioned himself beside Annabelle, with Elena looking over his shoulder from behind curiously, her brows furrowing in confusion once she saw Damon.

"Waiting for either Elena or Belle to invite me in," Damon replied, and Annabelle looked up at him with a slightly shocked look at his nickname for her. Elena looked between the two, wondering just when they had time to become close enough for the older Salvatore to give her sister a nickname, while Stefan tensed and glared at his brother, slowly inching himself closer to Annabelle as if to protect her.

"Uh..." Annabelle trailed off, still slightly shocked at what Damon called her. No one has ever called her 'Belle' before. It was always 'Anna'. "Sure, you can just-"

"No, no, no," Stefan immediately cut her off, making both of the girls look at him in confusion as he glanced at Annabelle before turning to look at his brother, "He can't, um... h-he can't stay," he quickly softened his voice after seeing the girls look at him in shock at his small outburst, before turning to look at his brother with hard eyes. "Can you, Damon?"

"Get in here," Caroline said from behind Annabelle, looking at Damon confusedly.

"We're just... finishing up," Stefan tried again, and Annabelle tensed the tiniest bit as she noticed the tension between the two brothers, and how adamant Stefan was to not let Damon in. It made her wonder. She was, admittedly, a bit more comfortable around the younger Salvatore, but she wasn't comfortable around Damon at all. Not after the utterly _terrifying_ feeling she got when their hands made contact, and not after sensing an aura full of darkness and danger around the young man. She could see, from how Stefan kept close to her and slightly in front of her, that he wanted to _protect_ her from Damon, which made her question her, Elena, Bonnie, and especially _Caroline's_ safety. And if Stefan wanted to protect them, and did not want Damon to enter the house, there must have been a reason why, so she decided to keep her mouth shut and let Stefan take the lead.

"It's fine," Elena smiled at Stefan, and, before her sister could stop her, turned to Damon, "Just come on in," she said, and Damon smiled as he gave Stefan a triumphant look before stepping over the threshold, purposely brushing against Annabelle, who quickly yet subtly jumped back, smirking at how Stefan glared at him and stepped closer to the younger Gilbert, looking at her in concern as he noticed the tiniest bit of fear in her eyes as she stared at Damon, who was now invited into her home.

"You have a beautiful home, girls," Damon turned back to look at the three as Elena stared at Stefan, confused because of his behavior towards Damon, somehow still not noticing how Stefan stayed by Annabelle's side the entire time.

"Thank you," Elena smiled, while Annabelle tensed as Damon's gaze shifted over to her. Stefan, noticing what his brother was looking at, took another step towards her, for which she was grateful and gave him a small smile in thanks. She still wasn't completely comfortable around Stefan, not liking the cold tingle she felt every time his skin made contact with hers (even if it was just a small, accidental brush of a hand), but she definitely felt safer around him than around Damon.

* * *

"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team," Caroline gushed while looking at Stefan with a bright smile. After finishing dinner, everyone gathered in the living room. Damon and Caroline sat closely together on an armchair, as did Bonnie and Annabelle, but on the other side of the room. Elena and Stefan were occupying the couch, and even though there was still enough space for one other person to sit down beside Elena, both Bonnie and Annabelle preferred to sit in their own space. Bonnie still didn't feel comfortable around Stefan, while Annabelle was trying to avoid both of the Salvatores. "Oh, Tyler must be seething. But, good for you, go for it,"

"That's what I always tell him, 'You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you, you have to go get it'," Damon said, just barely stopping himself from smirking as he looked at Stefan.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today," Caroline said. "It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever gonna learn the routines,"

"I missed summer camp, too, and I'm pretty decent," Annabelle spoke up.

"Well, yeah, but you were always amazing at cheer-leading. I mean, I could make up the hardest routine known to human kind, and you'd do it perfectly the very next day," Caroline said, and Annabelle couldn't help but smile a small smile as she remembered how fun cheer-leading used to be for her. She and Caroline would meet up almost every day after school and show the other the routine they made up the night before. Then they would both learn each other's routines, and have small, playful competitions.

"I'll work with Elena. She'll get it," Bonnie said, giving Caroline a hard look.

"I guess we can put her in the back," Caroline mused to herself quietly, and Elena turned her head to give her a nasty look.

"Hey, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena," Damon spoke up, and Elena smiled uneasily as she put her cup to her lips and took a sip of her tea.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died," Caroline said nonchalantly, and Elena and Annabelle both froze, "Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun, like Anna. I mean, while Elena completely shut herself out, Anna continued to act like she always does. Elena's just too scared to open her eyes and step back into the light..." Caroline said as if it were no big deal, but trailed off when Bonnie gave her a disbelieving look, while Annabelle just shook her head before looking down. That was when Caroline realized what she said, and immediately regretted it as she saw her best friend look down.

Caroline and Annabelle were always the closest out of the girls. Admittedly, Annabelle was closer to Caroline than she was to even Elena. Annabelle knew all of Caroline's secrets, and Caroline knew all of hers. The two would always stick together. Annabelle tried to help Caroline with her self-esteem and make the blonde realize that she is her own person, that she doesn't have to compare herself to Elena because she is special in her own way, and Caroline was there for Annabelle when her parents died. Even while at summer camp, Caroline would call her friend _every day_ to make sure that she was okay, or as okay as she could be, and to simply talk to her and make her forget about everything bad that happened in her life. Bonnie and Elena never understood the connection those two had, but it didn't matter.

"And I say that with complete sensitivity," Caroline said in a quieter voice, while Elena glared at her.

"I'm sorry, girls," Damon spoke up, while Caroline gave Annabelle an apologetic look, silently begging the brunette to forgive her, to which Annabelle gave a small nod and smile, as if it was nothing. "I know what it's like to lose both of your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die,"

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon," Stefan spoke up for the first time.

"Ah, you know what, you're right, Stef, I'm sorry, I-" Damon sighed, "The last thing I wanted to do was bring _them_ up," he chuckled humorlessly, giving his little brother a sarcastic smile, which made Elena's stomach clench in, what might have been, jealousy as she thought about Stefan's previous love interests.

* * *

"One more," Damon said from behind Annabelle as he walked into the Gilberts' kitchen, just as Annabelle wiped her hands after washing the dishes, while Elena, Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie remained in the living room.

"Oh, thank you," Annabelle said uneasily as the older Salvatore walked up to her. Shivers ran down her spine with every step he took. And not in a good way.

Damon, noticing her uneasiness, smirked to himself as he stopped in front of her, holding out the glass. She reached out her hand to grab it from him, but as soon as her fingertips touched the glass, the glass slipped out of Damon's hand. Annabelle gasped, preparing herself for breaking sound, but it never came as Damon swiftly caught it right before it hit the ground.

Even if she felt a bit afraid of Damon, she couldn't help but chuckle at the charming smirk he flashed her as he presented the glass to her.

"Nice save," she said, before grabbing the glass from his hand and turning her back to him as she placed it in the sink.

"I like you," Damon suddenly said, pointing his finger at her with a smirk, "You know how to laugh," he smiled, thinking about her attitude towards him in the boarding house," And you make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a very long time," he said, walking around her to lean against the counter next to her.

" _I_ make Stefan smile?" Annabelle looked at him weirdly. "Shouldn't you be saying that to my sister?"

"Well, you both make him smile," he shrugged nonchalantly, before looking at her with a smirk, "But you even more so," he said, and Annabelle frowned, opening her mouth to reply, only for him to cut her off in a nonchalant voice. "Although it probably has something to do with the fact that you remind him of someone," he said, and Annabelle nodded after a few seconds of staring at him, not wanting to be pushy and ask whom he was referring to. However, she was curious about one other thing.

"Earlier, did you mean... Katherine and Layla?" she asked.

"Mm-hmm," Damon simply hummed in response, taking the plate out of her hand and putting it in the cabinet above their heads for her.

"How did they die?" she asked gently, trying not to pry.

"In a fire," Damon replied, something flashing in his eyes. "Tragic fire,"

"Recently?" Annabelle asked curiously as Damon grabbed another plate from her and put it in the cabinet.

"It seems like it was yesterday," he said, and Annabelle could detect the double meaning in his words.

"What were they like?" she asked softly after a short moment of silence, and Damon looked away for a few seconds.

"Well, Layla was beautiful," he replied after a moment, as if in a daze, his voice soft, "A lot like you in that department," he snapped out of it, and glanced at the blue-eyed girl in front of him before grabbing another plate and putting it in the cabinet as well. "She was smart, and talented," Again, Annabelle detected a double meaning to his words, "She was my best friend..." he trailed off, something close to vulnerability flashing in his eyes, and Annabelle decided to change the subject, feeling sorry for the young man in front of her, despite the fear and danger she felt around him.

"And Katherine?" she asked gently, and Damon snapped out of his daze after talking about Layla, and looked at her.

"She was beautiful," he said, "She was also very complicated and selfish, and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive," he said with a smirk, and Annabelle looked down at the plate in her hand.

"Hmm," she hummed, deep in thought, before looking up at the Salvatore. "So, which one of you dated her first?"

"Nicely deduced," he chuckled, grabbing the plate from her hand and putting it in the cabinet, "Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine," he said, before closing the cabinet, while Annabelle moved over to the island in the middle of the kitchen and started folding the towels, "I'd tell Elena to quit cheer-leading if I were you," Damon said as he moved to stand beside her, before sitting down by the island.

"Why do you say that?" Annabelle asked as she continued folding the towels.

"Oh, I saw you two at practice. She was _miserable_ ," Damon said as he grabbed one of the towels and started folding it as well.

"You saw that?" Annabelle sighed.

"Am I wrong?"

"She used to love it," Annabelle said, stopping her movements for a few seconds as she rested her hands on the counter and looked at Damon, trying to ignore the shiver that ran down her spine when his eyes bore into hers, "But... things are different this year... Everything that used to matter just doesn't seem to anymore," she said, thinking about her own feelings. It's true, she's still on the squad, and she's quite good, but it's definitely not as fun as it once was. Now, it's just something to kill time so that her thoughts down wander off to places she doesn't want them to.

"So don't let it, either of you," Damon said simply as she started folding the towels again, "Tell Elena to quit, you both move on, problem solved. Ta-da," he sang, and Annabelle chuckled quietly, slowly growing more comfortable around the Salvatore.

"Some things could matter again," she said, continuing to fold the towels.

"Maybe," Damon said, putting the towel he just folded on the counter, "But... seems a little unrealistic to me," he said, and Annabelle nodded as she took in a deep breath and folded the last towel.

"I'm sorry," she spoke up suddenly after a moment of silence, and Damon furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her confusedly, "About Katherine and Layla," she said, and Damon's expression changed to one of realization, "You lost them, too," Annabelle said softly, recalling how Damon said that Layla was Stefan's first love, but was _his_ best friend, and it was quite obvious that he also had feelings for Katherine. Feelings that never really disappeared.

Damon stared at Annabelle with a look close to adoration, silently comparing her to Layla. There were so many similarities between the two, but there were also many differences. But sometimes, it was actually hard for him, and he could bet it was also hard for Stefan, to separate the similarities from the differences.

"Hey," there was a voice by the doorway, and the two broke eye contact and turned around, only to see Elena and Bonnie, "Need some help?" Bonnie asked kindly, and Annabelle smiled at her gratefully, feeling a sort of tension rising between her and the older Salvatore. The problem was, she didn't know what sort of tension it was.

"Sure, why not?" Damon agreed.

* * *

"Matt tries, but he's just having a really hard time," Caroline spoke to Stefan as they sat in the living room of the Gilberts' house, while the other four people were in the kitchen, "You have to understand that they were each other's first, you know, like from the sandbox," she chuckled, and Stefan smiled, though it was a bit tight.

"That's a really nice scarf," he noted, pointing to the thin gray scarf around the blonde's neck.

"Thank you, it's new," Caroline smiled.

"Can I see it?" Stefan asked, and Caroline looked at him weirdly, "I mean, would you mind taking it off?" he asked as he scooted over on the couch so that he could be closer to where she was sitting on the armchair.

"Oh, I can't," Caroline said.

"Why not?" Stefan tilted his head. "You okay?"

"Um..." Caroline trailed off, something similar to fear flashing in her eyes as she glanced around before composing herself and shrugging. "All I know is that I can't take it off,"

"What are you two kids talking about?" Damon's voice sounded through the room as he entered, immediately walking over to sit on the arm of the armchair Caroline was sitting on.

"I was just commenting on her scarf," Stefan said as Caroline smiled at his brother.

"Mmm," Damon hummed, before looking down at Caroline. "Hey, you know, uh, Elena, Annabelle, and Bonnie are finishing the dishes, why don't you go see if you can help,"

"Does it look like I do dishes?" Caroline asked, before chuckling as she turned to look at Stefan, who smiled back weakly.

"For me?" Damon smiled tightly, losing patience.

"Hmm, I don't think so," Caroline smiled, and Damon wiped the smiled off his face, before looking her directly in the eye.

"Go see if Annabelle needs help in the kitchen," he ordered, his pupils dilating.

"You know what?" Caroline spoke up, her voice light, "I'm gonna go see if Annabelle needs some help in the kitchen," she smiled.

"Great," Damon smiled, and the blonde returned it before standing up and walking out of the living room, heading towards the kitchen.

As soon as she was out of sight and hearing range, Stefan turned to his brother.

"They are people, Damon," he said, glancing between Damon and the kitchen. "She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement; for you to feed on whenever you want to,"

"Sure she does," Damon said. "They all do. They're whatever I want them to be, they're mine for the taking,"

"Alright, you've had your fun. You used Caroline, you got to meet Elena, you got to meet Annabelle, good for you," Stefan said. "Now it's time for you to go,"

"That's not a problem," Damon said nonchalantly, "Because..." he trailed off as he moved off of the arm to sit in the chair, "I've been invited in. And I'll come back tomorrow night, and the following night, and I'll do, with your little cheerleader and her sister, whatever I want to do. Because that is what is _normal_ to me," Damon said, clapping Stefan on the shoulder.

* * *

 _There must be shred of humanity left inside my brother. Somewhere. I keep hoping. But how do I make him see it? And how do I protect them?_ Stefan leaned back in his chair after he wrote down the entry in his journal as he sat in his room the next morning, deep in thought. How is he supposed to protect Elena, and, more importantly, Annabelle? It's true, Elena may look exactly like Katherine, but Annabelle is the exact replica of Layla, whom both of the brothers held dear to their hearts. Yes, they both had feelings for Katherine once, but at the end of the day, Stefan would always choose Layla. And he knew that Damon would too. And that is why he had to find a way to protect Annabelle from his brother. Because the similarities between her and the beautiful girl from 1864 are too great.

After a few seconds of thinking, Stefan stood up and walked over to one of the bookshelves in his room, and grabbed a medium size brown case, carrying it back to where he sat. He placed the case on top of his desk, and opened it, rummaging through a few papers before taking out two small, dark brown, wooden boxes.

* * *

"Annabelle!" a voice came from behind the beautiful girl as she walked down the Mystic Falls High grounds that afternoon in her cheer-leading uniform and her hair twisted from the left and put in a low pony tail, and she sighed, recognizing the voice, and turned around, wishing nothing more than to simply disappear.

"Stefan," she smiled tightly, and he gave her a small smile, wanting to make her feel a bit more comfortable, still not understanding why she was suddenly so tense around him. "Hey,"

"Hey. Listen, I... I wanted to make sure my brother didn't overstep his boundaries last night," he said, and Annabelle shook her head.

"Nope. He was on perfectly good behavior," she said, and then furrowed her eyebrows, looking at him curiously. "Why?"

"Well, my brother has a tendency to stick his nose where it doesn't belong," Stefan said.

"Don't we all?" Annabelle asked rhetorically, cracking a small smile, making Stefan chuckled lightly.

"Look..." he started, taking a step towards her, making her stiffen. "I know, this may seem strange, but I want you to have something," Stefan said, before pulling out a small, dark brown, wooden box with engraved holes on the lid. Annabelle looked at him confusedly, and he gave her a small smile before popping the lid open, revealing a simple yet utterly beautiful bracelet.

"Oh, wow..." Annabelle whispered, staring at the bracelet in awe as Stefan took it out of the box. The bracelet was silver, with three layers. Two of the strings were beaded with tiny silver jewels, in the same way, while the third string, that was in between the two beaded ones, was formed of small, perfectly carved stones which were painted and glistened in order to make them look silver. The clasp, instead of modern ones that were on every piece of jewelry now, was made out of a hole at the end of one of the strings' side, while the other side's clasp was a silver, metal-like tiny stick that went through the hole while positioned vertically and kept the bracelet clasped firmly when positioned horizontally. Beside the clasp, was a small charm, which seemed to have have a thick silver circle decorating it, with a dark spot and silver engravings on the inside of the circle.

"Take it," Stefan encourage her with a small smile, and she looked up at him for a second before hesitantly taking the beautiful piece of jewelry out of the box. As she brought the bracelet closer to her face in order to properly look at the engraving on the small charm, which seemed to be half-hearts, a scent filled her nose.

"What is that smell?" Annabelle asked Stefan curiously as she raised the bracelet to her nose, smelling the charm delicately.

"It's an herb," Stefan said, before looking at her with a small smile. "It's nice, isn't it?"

"I love it," she smiled, before furrowing her eyebrows, looking at him confusedly. "Why are you giving me this?"

"I've had this forever, and I think it's time for me to do something with it," Stefan shrugged, before giving her a small, teasing smile, "Besides, I hope this gift can be the beginning of getting you back on the 'I think you're a great guy' rails," he said, and Annabelle sighed. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised that he noticed her weird behavior, but at the same time, she was _hoping_ that he wouldn't. And now that he has, everything will get even more complicated, "Hey, it's okay," Stefan assured her, "I don't know why you suddenly hate me, but I just want you to know that I won't hurt Elena. If I can promise you anything, it's that," he said, and Annabelle sighed.

"I know you won't hurt her," she said, before looking up at him. "And I don't hate you. It's just... everything's so complicated now that I just-"

"Hey, it's okay," Stefan cut her off, seeing the guilt at how she treated him in her eyes, "Don't worry about it, okay?" he smiled, and she couldn't help but return it.

"Okay," she agreed, and Stefan smiled at her one more time before looking down at the bracelet in her hands, "You need help with that?" he asked, gesturing to the bracelet, and Annabelle looked down at it before looking back up with a smile.

"Yes, please," she nodded, and he grabbed the bracelet from her hand. Annabelle stretched out her left arm in front of her, giving him an easier access to her wrist and allowing him to clasp the bracelet around it. Annabelle tried incredibly hard not to shudder as Stefan's fingers brushed against her wrist, and, much to her joy, succeeded, which made her smile. Perhaps she can, in time, learn to feel normal around Stefan again. Perhaps, in time, they can be friends.

* * *

"Quiet down, quiet down! Quiet down a little bit! Okay?!" Mr. Tanner spoke through the microphone an hour later, trying to get the crowd of people who have gathered to watch the football game that night to quiet down as they cheered loudly, but with no success, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Wait!" he yelled at everyone, finally getting them to quiet down while Annabelle elbowed Caroline gently, silently telling her to stop cheering with a small smile on her face as they stood with the rest of the cheer-leading squad, "Now, let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into _our_ town, and roll right over us!" Everyone booed, the football team standing quietly in a row in front of the stage, facing the crowd, "But that is about to change," Everyone cheered, the cheerleaders waving their pom-poms in the air, "We've got some great new talent tonight starting on our fence, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a _long_ time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these," Mr. Tanner praised as he pointed at Stefan, who was standing amongst the football players in his jersey, some of the other players clapping him the back as he smiled. Everyone in the crowd cheered, Elena clapping and smiling sweetly at her boyfriend. Stefan returned her smile, before his gaze moved to Annabelle, who, _finally_ , smiled at him as she clapped, making him smile, "Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" Mr. Tanner said, and everyone cheered even louder. However, as Annabelle looked at her best friend, she noticed that Caroline was clapping a bit less enthusiastically and was cheering quieter, which made her wonder: was it because of Stefan's rejection, or was it because of Damon? To be honest, she was afraid to find out, "...that have been waiting for us to put a check in the win column, I have only one thing to say to you - your Timberwolves are hungry," Annabelle finally returned her attention to Mr. Tanner, and cheered along with the rest of the crowd.

After less than a minute of cheering and chatting carelessly, people started to slowly turn around as a fight broke out only a few feet away.

"Stop, you're hurting him!" Annabelle heard a voice that she recognized as Vicki's, and immediately knew who was in the fight. Without a second thought, she shoved her pom-poms into Caroline's hands and started pushing through the crowd as everyone started heading towards the fight, "Tyler!" Vicki yelled, and Annabelle quickened her pace, "Tyler, stop!" Vicki screamed, "Tyler! Stop it! Tyler, stop!" she screamed, just as Stefan and Annabelle both reached the fight.

"Hey, he's down! Enough!" Stefan yelled as he rushed forward and caught Tyler's arm right before he punched Jeremy again, while Annabelle stopped beside Vicki, staring at the Donovan girl in disgust. _She_ was the one who caused all this mess in the first place, _she_ was the one who continuously broke her little brother's heart over and over, and now when the two teenagers were fighting over _her_ , all she did was stand off to the side, doing nothing!

Tyler got off of Jeremy and looked at Stefan with pure fury in his eyes, before punching him the stomach. However, he looked up in shock as Stefan didn't even twitch. Jeremy, using the moment of distraction, rolled onto his side to grab a broken beer bottle before standing up, raising his arm and preparing to attack Tyler. Stefan, noticing the Gilbert boy's actions, quickly pushed Tyler out of the way just in time.

"Jeremy, no!" Annabelle yelled as she rushed forward, just as Elena arrived, but it was too late. Jeremy swung his arm, but instead of hitting Tyler, the bottle cut Stefan's palm as his hand was still raised from when he pushed Tyler out of the way.

"Tyler, knock it off!" Matt yelled as he ran forward and pushed his friend off to the side roughly, while Jeremy stared at the bottle in his hand in shock. "Stop!"

"What the hell, Jeremy?" Elena asked angrily as Annabelle quickly pulled him away from Stefan.

"Put your head up, you're bleeding," Annabelle said as she put her hands on either sides of his face, looking at the blood around his mouth and the bruises that started to form on his face.

"I'm fine," Jeremy sighed, but let his sister check him.

"Yeah, you _smell_ fine!" Elena said sarcastically, and that was when Jeremy snapped. He quickly pulled Annabelle's hands away from his face, before shoving past his oldest sister.

"Just stop, okay?" he snapped, before storming off, while Annabelle sighed. Why could Elena never just let him calm down first instead of immediately scolding him and jumping all over him?

"Come on, man! Come on!" Matt pushed Tyler away from everyone roughly, while Elena and Annabelle turned around to look at Stefan.

"Oh, my God, your hand," Elena gasped as she rushed forward, reaching out to grab Stefan's bleeding hand, but Stefan quickly pulled it away and hid it behind his back as Annabelle took a few steps forward.

"No, no, no, it's fine," Stefan said, but Elena ignored him as she grabbed his hand, which was now clenched in a fist, and pulled it in front of her.

"Is it deep? How bad is it?" she asked worriedly as she pried at Stefan's fingers, wanting to inspect the wound, "Come on," she sighed, and Stefan let her open his hand, only to reveal smooth skin. No cut. Only a tiny bit of dried blood.

"But..." Elena shook her hand, looking at his hand confusedly, before looking up at him as Annabelle's eyes widened when she got a glimpse of his hand. She saw the bottle cut his palm, she was sure she did. "I-I saw it, it was-"

"He missed," Stefan cut her off, glancing at Annabelle, wanting to see if she was also suspicious, and, unfortunately for him, she sure was, "It's not my blood," he assured, looking back at Elena, wiping his hand on his pants before showing her his hand again. "See? I'm fine,"

"No, no, no, I-I saw it. The glass cut your hand, it was-"

"It's okay. I'm okay," Stefan whispered, looking at her with a small smile, while Annabelle sighed. Yes, she also saw the cut, but if they were going to interrogate Stefan, wouldn't it be better if they did it away from prying eyes? In this case, away from all the people who have come to watch the game, who were still gathered around them and whose eyes and ears were still on them? "It's almost kick-off time, alright? So, um, I'll, uh, I'll see you after the game," Stefan said to Elena, who nodded, swallowing, before walking off, while Annabelle turned to face Vicki, who was still standing in the same spot she was standing during the fight.

"You do know this is all _your_ fault, right?" she spat, looking at the Donovan girl, who had the audacity to look shocked. Annabelle just shook her head, disgusted, before walking off.

* * *

"Hey, Tiki? It's all wobbly, can you stand straight, please?" Caroline said to one of the cheerleaders holding the Timberwolf banner about ten minutes later, just as Annabelle walked over, returning to the squad, "Anna! Finally! Where have you been? We're about to start!" the blonde exclaimed, looking at her best friend in disapproval, but also in worry.

"I was just trying to clear my head, I'm sorry," Annabelle said, giving her an apologetic smile, making Caroline sigh but nod all the same, giving her an understanding look, before turning back to the rest of the squad.

"Could someone please help Tiki?" she asked, walking over to the said cheerleader, while Bonnie walked over to Annabelle.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked concernedly, seeing how tired her friend was.

"Yeah," Annabelle sighed, "I tried to catch up with Jeremy, but after a few minutes of just pointlessly wandering around, I decided to let him cool off first, you know?" she said, and Bonnie nodded in understanding, "God, I just wish Jeremy would get over Vicki already. I mean, I get it, I do. He's in love with her, and I wish I could be happy for him, but I can't. That girl is nothing but trouble. She's going nowhere, and she's dragging him with her while constantly breaking his heart. Not to mention _she_ was the cause of that fight tonight, and didn't even _try_ to stop it!" Annabelle rambled, before sighing after getting it off her chest, and Bonnie gave her a sympathetic smile before her gaze shifted to something behind her friend.

"Hey. Where you been?" Bonnie asked, and Annabelle turned around, only to see Elena walking over to them.

"Can I ask you a question and you give me a really serious, no-joke response?" Elena asked, looking at Bonnie, and the dark-skinned girl nodded.

"Of course, what is it?"

"The bad mojo," Elena said. "When you touched Stefan, and you had that reaction..."

"You know what, forget I said that," Bonnie shook her head with a smile. "Your little dinner party plot totally won me over,"

"No, Bonnie, seriously. What was it?" Elena asked, "Did you see something, or...?" she trailed off, and Bonnie's smile faltered as she sighed.

"It wasn't clear like a picture," she said, "Like today, I keep seeing those same numbers I told you about - 8, 14, 22," she said, and Annabelle stiffened. She still saw the same numbers, over and over again. And she didn't know what to make out of it.

"Yeah?" Elena pressed.

"When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it-" Bonnie cut herself off, as Annabelle continued to tense. Bonnie just perfectly described what _she_ felt when she touched Stefan and Damon.

"And what?" Elena pressed.

"It was-"

"Death," Annabelle cut Bonnie off, and the dark-skinned girl turned to look at her in shock, before slowly nodding, while Elena looked at her sister confused. How did she know that?

"Yes," Bonnie nodded, before looking at Elena again. "It's what I imagine death to be like,"

* * *

Annabelle stood beside Bonnie an hour later, now wearing a white tank top that was tucked in her magenta shorts, and a white-black striped, thigh-long sweater, the front and top half of her hair now in an up-do, as they watched the coroners put Mr. Tanner's body in the truck, Bonnie trying to keep her tears at bay as Annabelle wrapped a comforting arm around her. Only less than an hour after Elena, Bonnie, and Annabelle's conversation, Matt found Mr. Tanner bleeding from his neck. Dead. Now, Annabelle and Bonnie stood amongst other people, watching the police, animal control, and coroners do their work.

Annabelle looked around, trying to look at anything but at her teacher's body, but she tensed as her eyes landed on a small board on the wall of the building in front of them: BLDG **8**. Bonnie felt Annabelle stiffen, and looked at her, only to see tears forming in her eyes as she stared at something. Furrowing her eyebrows, Bonnie followed her gaze, and immediately regretted it.

Annabelle's gaze then shifted to one of the animal control cars, and she felt a lump form in her throat as she saw the registration board on the car: FHT **14**. Lastly, her gaze shifted to the spot on the sidewalk where Mr. Tanner was found, blood still splattered. There was a number painted on the sidewalk: **22**. Annabelle heard Bonnie release a strangled gasp, but was too shocked, and, more importantly, _terrified_ , to do anything about it. All she could do, was stand there with tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat, trying not to break down.

"Oh, my God,"

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Well, I was a bit unsure about the way I approached this chapter, so I really hope I did it justice. I hope you like Annabelle's relationship with Caroline. I honestly love Caroline, she's my favorite character in the show, and I wanted my character to be the kind of person Caroline never had: someone who didn't overlook her for Elena. Besides, I think Caroline and Annabelle's friendship will be very good for the story line as well.

I hope you guys liked the flashbacks in this chapter, which, I'm sure, completely changed your view on Annabelle. If anyone was confused, those were just flashbacks of Annabelle meeting Stefan and Damon, but we get a bit more details as to what really happened when she met them, details that we haven't seen earlier. I thought it would be appropriate to throw it in in this chapter, just to surprise you.

By the way, are there any pairings you would like to see in this story? I already have everything planned out, but if someone throws me an incredibly good suggestion, it might just change my mind. I'd also like to hear whom you _think_ Annabelle will end up with.

Anyway, I hope you all like the story, and please don't forget to review!


	4. Family Ties

**_Disclaimer:_** _I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' in any shape or form. But I do own my OC's._

 ** _A/N:_** _This chapter will start off at the very beginning of 'Family Ties' and continue throughout the episode._

 ** _Reviews:_**

annalouise92: Thank you! I'm so glad you like it! I will give hints as to who will be Annabelle's love interest. In fact, I already gave some, but you have to really read between the lines to see it.

paperaeroplanesfly: Aw, thank you so much! I'm so glad you like the story, and the character!

Guest: Here you go :)

Guest: All of my stories have a similar summary because I have a specific procedure of starting out on my first story from a particular fandom. However, if I wrote two different stories for the same fandom, then I would have different ideas, unless we're talking about a different love interest. I just like to know where I start out so that I don't get confused in between all my stories, but that doesn't mean that my stories are the same. Summaries, perhaps, but I take every single one of my stories in a different direction. And to answer the last part of your question, no, I'm not trying to insert myself into all of my favorite shows, but at the same time, I don't know if you noticed, but that is kind of what fan-fiction writing is about. You make up a character that you _have_ to relate with, or otherwise you really won't know how to make her/him realistic. And that character is used to voice _your_ opinions, and _your_ thoughts, so that you could change the plot in the way that _you_ think is best. So, no, I'm not just trying to insert myself in my favorite shows, but that's what OCs are used for. They're used to put the author's thoughts of the plot _into_ the plot.

 **Love Also Has Thorns**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Family Ties**

 _Annabelle's eyes snapped open and a gasp escaped her lips as she sat up, looking around her dark room. She jumped slightly as she heard a rattling sound coming from downstairs, before quickly getting out of bed, shivering a bit as the cool air hit her bare legs, which were only covered by her white pajama shorts with pink and blue floral designs, and her stomach, which was revealed from underneath her pink, long-sleeved pajama crop top. She quietly opened her door, before stepping out into the hallway, looking around for any of her family members who might have caused the noise._

 _"Jeremy?" she called out, quietly, as to not disturb anyone who might be sleeping already. Annabelle looked around, before stepping over to the barrier of the hallway balcony and looking down, only to see the empty hallways downstairs. Frowning, she decided to go back to her room, but just as she started to turn around, she saw a shadow roam through the hallways downstairs. With her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, the Gilbert girl quickly rounded the barrier corner before walking down the stairs, quickly but quietly. She looked around the hallway, and, after not noticing anything or anyone, walked over to the kitchen. She flipped the switch to turn the lights on, but was left in the darkness as nothing happened, "What the hell?" she muttered to herself quietly before looking around the kitchen, trying to see something, "Jenna?" she called out, hoping it'd be either her aunt or sister in the kitchen._

 _"This is Logan Fell, coming to you live from the streets of Mystic Falls with breaking news of another deadly animal attack," came a voice behind her, and Annabelle turned around with furrowed eyebrows, only to see that the TV in her living room was turned on, "The wild animal terrorizing the citizens of Mystic Falls has claimed another victim: local high school student, Annabelle Gilbert," the reporter, Logan Fell, on the screen said, before a picture of the beautiful brunette popped up on the screen, making Annabelle's breath hitch in her throat, "Police are certain that forensic evidence will confirm that this is the same animal responsible for recent attacks," Logan Fell continued as Annabelle stared at the TV with wide eyes, not able to move a muscle._

 _"You know it's coming next," came a taunting voice from behind her, which she recognized as Damon Salvatore's as she turned around, only to see the said young man standing in her kitchen, staring at her like a predator would at its prey. Sucking in a sharp breath, Annabelle whipped around and quickly ran towards the stairs, wanting to get to her aunt and siblings, but as soon as she rounded the corner, she was faced with Damon, who was now standing on the stairs. Screaming in shock and fear, Annabelle quickly turned back around, only to see Damon now standing in the living room, and screamed again, tears forming in her eyes as her heart rate picked up. She closed her eyes tightly for a second, trying to get a hold of herself so that she could think straight._

 _Annabelle took in a deep breath and opened her eyes only a second later, only to see that Damon has now disappeared and there was no one else in the hallway other than her. Breathing in and out shakily, Annabelle took a few, slow steps forward, looking around. While she was looking towards the kitchen, Damon appeared from behind her and let his fangs show before grabbing her from behind and sinking them into her neck, making her scream in pain as he delected in the taste of her sweet blood._

Stefan's eyes shot open and he sat up with a gasp, his eyes wide in terror as the images from his nightmare flashed through his mind.

"Bad dream?" Damon asked from where he sat in front of his younger brother's bed as Stefan breathed heavily, "Do you know how easy it was to get into your head just now? Tsk, tsk. You really need some human blood," Damon said with a small smirk as Stefan glared at him, feeling more hatred towards his brother now than ever before, "It might even the playing field," Damon smirked, "Football reference... Too soon?" Stefan glared at his brother heatedly before flashing out of bed and stopping by his desk, grabbing the letter opener and throwing it as Damon angrily, the sharp object embedding itself in the older Salvatore's, who didn't even twitch, chest.

Damon looked down at the letter opener chest almost boredly, before standing up and pulling the now blood-stained object out of his flesh.

"Alright, I deserved that," he nodded. "But I just wanted to let you know, they caught the culprit. The animal responsible for killing Coach Tanner and all those people,"

"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked, annoyed, knowing very well that it was his brother who killed all those people.

"It was a mountain lion. Really big one," Damon stretched out his arms to emphasize what he was saying. "It attacked a hunter this morning, it's all over the news. 'Deadly beast captured. All's well in Mystic Falls.',"

"Why would you cover your tracks?" Stefan asked, and Damon was silent for a few seconds as he moved around the room.

"I've decided to stay a while," he responded, before turning around to face his little brother with a smirk on his face, "I'm just having way too much fun here with you and Elena," his smirk grew, "Not to mention Annabelle," Stefan glowered at his brother.

"Can't touch them now. Either of them,"

"Well, the vervain keeps me out of their _heads_... Maybe that's not my target," Damon smirked. "Believe it or not, Stefan, some girls don't need my persuasion. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style, and my charm, and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift," he said, slowly walking over to his brother as he talked before plunging the letter opener into Stefan's side, just as he finished the sentence.

Stefan groaned in pain, bending over and placing his hand on the desk next to him to steady himself as he fell onto his knee.

"This is John Varvados, dude," Damon scowled as he looked down at the blood-stained hole in his shirt from when Stefan threw the letter opened at him, "Dick move," he said, before leaving the room as Stefan pulled the letter opener from his side, groaning in pain as he did so. He took in a few breaths, before turning around to look at the door which Damon just left through, wanting nothing more than to just beat the crap out of his brother for the horrible images that he planted in his head.

* * *

"Scum ball," Annabelle heard her aunt's voice as she walked downstairs after getting ready for the day and deciding to wear light jean shorts that only reached down to the top of her thighs, and a coral 3/4-sleeved shirt with a wide neckline that showed her collar bones. The top half of her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and the rest fell down in styled waves. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her brows furrowed in confusion as to whom her aunt was referring to. "Scum bucket,"

"Who are you talking to?" she asked as she walked into the kitchen, only to see her sister already there, eating cereal, and her aunt standing with her back to Elena, leaning against a chair and staring at the TV spitefully.

"Him," Elena answered for Jenna, pointing at the handsome, dark-haired man in his late 20's on the TV screen with her spoon, and Annabelle looked at the two weirdly.

"The news guy?"

"Also known as Logan 'Scum' Fell," Jenna said, before turning to her nieces. "Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?"

"No way," Annabelle's mouth dropped as she looked between the news reporter on the screen and her aunt. "You and him?"

"He's cute," Elena said, Annabelle silently agreeing, and Jenna turned to glare at her.

"He is not cute. There's nothing cute about him," she said.

"Ew," was Annabelle's immediate response, to which Jenna hummed in agreement before turning the TV off as Annabelle chuckled and sat down, placing the box she had in her hands down on the table and opening it to clean the objects in it.

"What are you doing with that?" Elena asked her sister curiously as she and Jenna stepped closer to look at the objects in the box.

"I got it from the deposit box yesterday," Annabelle replied as she took out a golden locket and started polishing it, trying to get all the dust off of it. "Mom told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the Founders' Council for their heritage display,"

"Oh, God, I completely forgot about that," Elena groaned as she sat down, placing herself on the other side of Jenna.

"Yeah, well," Annabelle spoke, only glancing up briefly before returning to the polishing, "I had nothing better to do, so I decided to just get this over with," The truth was, she just wanted something to do to get her mind off of everything that's been going on.

It's been almost two weeks since Mr. Tanner's death, but Annabelle was still shaken. After all, she pretty much predicted the man's death! No one other than Bonnie knew the truth. She didn't tell Elena because she knew that her sister wouldn't believe her even if she did try to explain it to her. She didn't tell Caroline because the blonde didn't believe in any of the witch stuff, not to mention she spent most of her time with Damon. She didn't tell Jeremy, because he was more often out of the house than in, either chasing after Vicki or ditching school. She didn't tell Jenna, because she didn't want to trouble the strawberry blonde, seeing as the young woman already had enough to worry about while taking care of three teenagers. And she didn't tell Matt, because he is still too heartbroken to worry him with any of this. Bonnie was the only one who knew, and still it was only because the Bennett girl was going through the same thing. The two girls were both terrified, and had trouble leaving their homes the first day or two after Mr. Tanner's death. The two friends sought comfort in each other, and Annabelle believed that their bond of friendship only grew stronger because of what was happening to them. Now, there was no one Annabelle trusted more than Bonnie, and there was no one Bonnie trusted more than Annabelle.

"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?" Jenna asked, taking out a beautiful, quite old ring from the box.

"Originally, it was actually Great-Great-Grandma Mary's wedding ring," Annabelle said, and both Jenna and Elena hummed in thought, just as Jeremy entered the kitchen.

"How much do you think this stuff is worth?" he asked as he grabbed a golden pocket watch out of the box, a small smirk forming on his lips as he looked at his older sister jokingly. "You know, like on eBay?"

"You're not gonna find out," Elena snapped, pulling the watch out of his hand as Annabelle chuckled quietly, knowing that her little brother was just joking.

"That stuff is Mom and Dad's. You can't just give it away," Jeremy frowned at his older sister as he walked further into the kitchen, and Annabelle sighed.

"I'm not giving it away," she said gently. "It's called a loan, Jeremy," Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and Elena got up to open the door, seeing as Jeremy was going to make himself breakfast, Jenna was finishing her tea, and Annabelle was busy cleaning the objects for the heritage display.

Elena opened the door, and felt a smile grow on her lips as she came face-to-face with Stefan, who smiled at her.

"Hi," he greeted, and she grinned, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside before pushing the door closed. She quickly glanced over her shoulder, wanting to make sure that her family wasn't aware of what was going on, before pulling Stefan's face down to place her lips on his and give him a sweet kiss. After a second of them being in their own world, Elena pulled away and grinned at her boyfriend.

"Hi," she said quietly, and Stefan smiled before placing his lips on hers again.

After a moment of kissing, the two were so lost in each other that they didn't hear, feel, or see anything else, so they were quite surprised when there was a sound of someone clearing their throat loudly to gain their attention.

"Oh, God, Anna!" Elena exclaimed, quickly pulling away from Stefan as she looked at her sister, who was trying very hard not to laugh as she stared at the two, "What are you doing here?" Elena asked after clearing her throat uncomfortably, making Annabelle raise her eyebrows in amusement.

"This is my house too, you know," she said, and Elena mentally slapped herself, "I wanted to see who was at the door and what was taking you so long. Now I know," Annabelle smirked, making Elena glare at her. Annabelle choked back a laugh at how flustered the two in front of her looked, before bringing her gaze onto Stefan, giving him a smile. "Hello, Stefan,"

"Hi," he said sheepishly, not too happy that he was caught nearly making out with Elena by her sister, but very much happy that Annabelle was now talking to him, smiling at him, and comfortable around him.

* * *

"You're taking Damon to the Founders' Party?" Bonnie asked Caroline in disbelief as they walked into the Grill. "What about me?"

"Go with Elena," Caroline said simply.

"She's asking Stefan," Bonnie said as they both sat down at a table.

"Well, then go with Anna,"

"I don't even know if she's going!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Okay, go by yourself," Caroline said, and Bonnie gave her a look.

"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically. "What about your mom? Is she okay with you bringing Damon?"

"And I'm supposed to care why?"

"He's older, sexy danger guy,"

"'Older, sexy danger guy'?" Caroline repeated, "What, is that an official witch Twitter tweet?" she mocked.

"No more witch jokes, okay?" Bonnie nearly begged, "That whole Mr. Tanner prediction thing has me freaked," she said, before murmuring to herself quietly, "And not just me,"

"Okay," Caroline surrendered, silently thinking that her friend might be getting off the sanity rails. "And Damon's not dangerous. You know, he just has a lot of issues with his brother. You know, like major, deep-rooted drama.

"Like...?" Bonnie questioned, her interested sparked, and Caroline bit her lip, looking unsure.

"Yeah, I'm not really supposed to say anything," she said, and Bonnie gave her a look.

"Caroline Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?"

"Okay," Caroline gave in. "But you _can't_ tell Elena. Or Annabelle,"

"No,"

* * *

Jeremy made his way downstairs as the Gilberts' doorbell rang. He opened the door, about to greet whoever was at the door, but quickly changed his mind as he saw the person on his threshold and went to slam the door in Tyler's face, only to be stopped by his hand.

"I'm here for my mom," Tyler said. "I was supposed to pick up a box of stuff,"

"Right here," Annabelle came out of the kitchen, the box with the objects that Mrs. Lockwood wanted in her hands. Jeremy stepped out of his sister's way to allow her to stand closer to Tyler as she proceeded to hand him the box, only to stop halfway, "Please be careful," she pleaded as she finally handed Tyler the box.

"Yeah, be careful with it, dick," Jeremy snapped.

"Hey," Annabelle scolded as she looked between the two. "Not now, okay, guys? Please?"

"I'm fine. He's just being a punk," Tyler said nonchalantly.

"I got your punk," Jeremy retorted, and Annabelle sighed.

"Look, Tyler, maybe you should go. Tell your mom Elena and I will see her tonight," she said, before giving the Lockwood a smile and turning around to head back into the kitchen, where Elena and Bonnie were waiting for her.

"Delicate Flower vs. Naughty Vixen," Bonnie said as she inspected the two bottles of nail polish just as Annabelle entered the kitchen.

"Tough call," she said to her sister, who was sitting beside Bonnie, who hummed.

"Can we mix them?" Elena asked.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date," Bonnie grinned at her friend teasingly. "You seem happy-ish,"

"I am," Elena replied as Annabelle quickly grabbed a bottle of polish remover before making her way to the table where the two girls were sitting and planting herself on the chair on Bonnie's other side. "Ish. Tonight is going to be a good night, "Elena announced happily, before looking straight at Bonnie. "But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door,"

"What if I tell you in the morning?" Bonnie suggested, making Annabelle look at her curiously. "I don't want to ruin the night,"

"Bonnie, out with it," Elena ordered sternly.

"Okay," Bonnie succumbed, before looking at the two sisters. "But it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed," Elena and Annabelle both nodded, silently promising her that whatever she tells them will stay a secret, and Bonnie sighed. "Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story,"

"Uh-huh," Elena nodded, now fully paying attention.

"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?" Bonnie asked, looking between the two girls, and Elena shook her head.

"I know that she died, but before that both Stefan and Damon dated her and that's why they have issues," Annabelle said, and Elena looked at her with furrowed eyebrows, wondering how _Annabelle_ knows more about Stefan's history than _she_ does.

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon," Bonnie said. "And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine, he filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon,"

"That sounds like only one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's," Annabelle said, not willing to believe that Stefan could've done things like that. It's true, she didn't know him, but for the short time that she had she grew to genuinely like the Salvatore, even if she still wasn't fully comfortable around him. But the idea of Stefan doing something like Bonnie described just seemed utterly ridiculous.

"I just wanted you both to know," Bonnie said softly, looking mostly at Elena but glancing at Annabelle in the process, knowing very well that Annabelle and Stefan were on their way to becoming friends.

"Well, his past relationships are none of my business," Elena said, though her sister and best friend could both easily tell that she was now feeling suspicious of Stefan's back story.

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar," Bonnie said, painting her nails.

"Bonnie," Annabelle scolded, only to receive a mere shrug in reply.

" _That_ would be your business," Bonnie finished her sentence, looking at Elena.

"Stefan is none of those things," Elena shook her head.

"Yeah? How do you know?" Bonnie asked, looking up from her nails, and Elena opened her mouth, only to close it as she realized that she, indeed, does not.

* * *

Bonnie, Annabelle, and Elena all stood in front of the mirror in Annabelle and Jenna's bathroom, one curling her hair, one putting on blush, and one putting on mascara, getting ready for the Founders' Party, just as the home telephone in Annabelle's room rang. The younger Gilbert twin quickly put down her brush and jogged to her room, grabbing the phone with practiced ease.

"Hello?" she answered, before smiling, "Hi, Mrs. Lockwood," she said, and Bonnie and Elena both stopped what they were doing to watch her speak through the phone to the mayor's wife, watching as her brows furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?... It is? Are you sure? 'Cause I saw it..." she trailed off as realization crossed her face, making Bonnie and Elena share a confused look, "Uh, you know what? Let me check... Mm-hmm... Yeah, I'll try to find it... Okay. Bye," she finished before putting the phone down on her bed and walking out the door.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie called as she and Elena followed her down the hallway. Elena especially grew confused as she saw her sister enter Jeremy's room.

Annabelle quickly walked over to Jeremy, who was sitting with his feet on his desk as he played a video game, and pulled his headphones off his head. Jeremy looked up in surprise, and furrowed his brows in curiosity as he saw his sister standing above him, before sighing in annoyance as he also saw Elena enter.

"God, what now?" he groaned.

"The pocket watch," Annabelle simply replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Where is it?"

"What watch?" Jeremy asked, and Elena stepped closer to the two, slowly understanding what was going on.

"The one from Mom's box," Annabelle replied, and realization dawned on Elena.

"The one you stole," she realized, before crossing her arms over her chest and looking down at Jeremy.

"Look, Jer, Mrs. Lockwood just called me, freaking out. It was on the list. She can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it," Annabelle explained.

"Maybe she did," Jeremy said. "Maybe, uh, maybe Tyler took it,"

"Oh, don't even play that card," Elena snapped, and Annabelle sighed. Why can Elena never just let _her_ deal with Jeremy before snapping at him and making him angry, which also results in him spending more time around Vicki and taking more drugs. "Jeremy, you took it. If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?"

"Elena!" Annabelle hissed, wanting nothing more than to actually slap her sister for the way she just spoke to Jeremy.

"Screw you," Jeremy snapped at Elena, before standing up and walking over to one of his shelves, kneeling on the floor for a minute before taking the missing pocket watch out of one of his hiding spots, "I would never sell this, okay?" he turned to Elena, his voice shaking with anger, which Annabelle didn't blame him for at all. Elena crossed the line.

"Then why did you take it?" Elena asked, her voice clearly stating that she didn't believe their brother, which made Annabelle grit her teeth so that she wouldn't say anything she would later regret.

"'Cause it's supposed to be mine," Jeremy said, his voice now soft and vulnerable, "Dad said it goes to the firstborn son. His father gave it to him, and now what?" he snapped, before shoving past Elena and handing the watch to Annabelle, who stared at their sister the entire time.

"And he was going to give it to you," Annabelle realized as she stared at Elena the entire time, who turned around with a guilty look on her face. But, frankly, Annabelle didn't care that Elena felt guilty. She crossed the line with what she said to Jeremy, and Annabelle was not going to pretend that it was nothing.

"Yeah," Jeremy said as he sat back down in his chair.

"Look, Jeremy, it's still yours, okay?" Elena said, trying to amend herself. "Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood, what do you want me to do?"

"Just get out," Jeremy snapped, and Elena sighed as she looked at him sadly, before leaving her brother's room.

Annabelle made her way as if to follow Elena, but as she reached the door, she closed it and turned around to face her younger brother.

"She's right, you know," she said, and Jeremy simply looked at his computer. It wasn't enough that Elena said all those things to him, now Annabelle was going to take from him one of the few things he has left of their dad? "But then again, it was _Mom_ who promised Mrs. Lockwood, not me," as soon as the words left Annabelle's lips, Jeremy felt his own pull up in a grin as he looked up at his sister, who came over to stand above him as she smiled at him, "I did say I'll try to find it, and I did. I never said I'll bring it to her once I find it, though," she said, and smiled as Jeremy got up from his chair and strode over to her before pulling her into a hug, which she gladly returned, "But do me a favor!" she pleaded, and he pulled away to look at her curiously, "Don't tell Elena," she smirked, and Jeremy grinned at his sister as she placed the pocket watch in his hand, before hugging her tightly again, "Okay, I have to get ready for he party," she said as she pulled away, and Jeremy nodded, letting go of his sister as she gave him one last smile before leaving his room.

"Anna. There you are," Bonnie smiled as the younger Gilbert girl walked back into her bathroom, and Annabelle gave her a smile before stopping beside Elena.

"What you said to him was _way_ over the line," she hissed, and Elena opened her mouth to defend herself, but Annabelle was already gone as she left the bathroom and went to her room.

* * *

"I'm not trying to be pushy, but are you sure you're not taking this a bit too far?" Bonnie asked her best friend as they walked up the steps of the Lockwood Mansion, following everyone else who showed up for the Founders' Party, both now dressed up with their hair styled. Annabelle's dress was light beige with white floral designs and a white belt around her waist. The dress was modest, with the top tight around her slim waist and the bottom, below the belt, loose, sleeves of 3/4 length, and skirt going down to her mid thighs. The top of her hair was pinned back with a few loose strands brushing against the sides of her face, while the rest of her hair fell down in styled curls.

"I didn't say I will hate her for all eternity, Bonnie," Annabelle rolled her eyes, "But someone _has_ to tell Elena that the way she treats Jeremy is unfair, and since it didn't look like anyone was actually gonna do it, I took it upon myself. Besides, I'm sick of her attitude towards him," she said as they reached the Lockwoods' threshold and stopped, waiting politely to be invited in.

"Okay," Bonnie succumbed, just as Annabelle's eyes fell on the mayor's wife.

"Hi, Mrs. Lockwood," she called, and the older woman turned around, smiling brightly as she walked up to the two teenagers.

"Annabelle," Mrs. Lockwood grinned as she pulled the young brunette into a hug, which Annabelle returned kindly, "Oh, you look stunning," Mrs. Lockwood said as she pulled away, holding the Gilbert girl at arm length.

"Thank you," Annabelle chuckled, and Mrs. Lockwood gave her one more smile before turning to look at Bonnie.

"Bonnie," she smiled, also pulling the girl into a hug, which Bonnie returned a bit awkwardly while Annabelle tried not to laugh, "Well, don't just stand there, girls. Come in," Mrs. Lockwood smiled, pulling away from Bonnie, and Annabelle gave her a smile in thanks as she and Bonnie entered the mayor's house, "Enjoy," the mayor's wife smiled, before walking away as Annabelle gave her a wave with a smile, while Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Stop it," Annabelle rolled her eyes, looking over at her friend with a smile.

"I didn't do anything," Bonnie protested, knowing that Annabelle couldn't have seen her since she was still looking off in the distance.

"Yes, you did," Annabelle said, and Bonnie opened her mouth to respond but Annabelle beat her to it, "Don't even bother. I know you to well, Bonnie Bennett," she smiled, making Bonnie roll her eyes but smile all the same.

* * *

"Are you sure you wanna go there?" Bonnie asked her friend in concern, and Annabelle took a deep breath.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Okay," Bonnie nodded with a gentle smile, and Annabelle smiled back before they made their way down the hallways of the Lockwood Mansion, heading towards the room that held the Heritage Display.

"...Is that Damon Salvatore?" the girls heard Elena's voice from the side of the room where they were headed.

"I'll be right back," Annabelle murmured quietly to Bonnie, who nodded, thinking that Annabelle might have decided to either apologize or at least talk to Elena.

"And Stefan Salvatore?" Elena's voice was laced with confusion, and Annabelle walked over, only to see her looking at the original guest registry from the very first Founders' Party, with Stefan beside her. Annabelle's brows furrowed as she also glanced at the registry, and saw both of the Salvatore brothers' names on it.

"The original Salvatore brothers," came a voice from behind her, and she, along with Stefan and Elena, who just now noticed her sister was standing beside them, turned around, only to see Damon walking over to the three of them, "Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually," he said, and Annabelle's brows furrowed a bit when she didn't see Caroline anywhere nearby, even though she was completely certain that her blonde best friend was being accompanied by Damon.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past," Stefan spoke up, and Damon stared at his brother, almost as if daring him to say more.

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family," Elena said sweetly, making Damon smirk at his brother, while Annabelle refrained herself from rolling her eyes.

"Where's Caroline?" she quickly turned to Damon, still not seeing her best friend anywhere.

"She went to dance with one of your friends," the Salvatore replied smoothly, before getting an almost mischievous twinkle in his eye as he looked at his brother with a smirk. "In fact, why don't you and Belle here go join in on the dance floor?"

"I don't really dance," Stefan said as Annabelle looked at Damon in shock, while Elena felt jealousy building up inside her, but also a bit of worry as she deduced that Damon wanted to talk to her. Alone.

"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all," Damon smirked, and Annabelle felt another set of tension rising up between the two brothers.

"Well, alright then," she sighed, wanting nothing more than to escape the tension, not to mention Damon, who was, once again, standing too close for her liking, "Shall we?" she asked, holding her hand out to Stefan, making Damon smirk at his brother while Elena glared at her sister, who decided to ignore her for the time being, simply wishing to get as far away from the older Salvatore as possible.

Stefan looked down at her and gave her a small smile, as if understanding that she wanted to get away, and grabbed her hand, much to Elena's displeasure, and lead her out of the room, leaving their siblings to watch them leave. One with a smirk, one with a glare.

* * *

"I'm sorry about this," Annabelle apologized to Stefan once they reached the dance floor. "I just... Your brother makes me a bit uncomfortable,"

"Don't worry about it," Stefan gave her a smile as he placed his right hand on her waist, holding her right hand with his other one as she put her left hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure?" she asked as they started dancing to the slow melody, still feeling a bit guilty and knowing all too well that Elena will be quite mad at her for 'stealing her date'.

"I'm sure," Stefan assured her, "Trust me, I know the kind of effect my brother has on people," he said, and Annabelle gave him a smile, silently thanking him for being so considerate, as he spun her around unexpectedly, making her giggle quietly, which made him smile.

The two danced for a few more minutes in a comfortable silence, before Annabelle was startled by a voice behind her.

"Hey," came a bubbly voice, and Annabelle and Stefan stopped dancing as the Gilbert girl turned around, only to see Caroline standing behind her.

"Hey," she replied, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Where were you?"

"Oh, just dancing with Daniel," Caroline replied nonchalantly.

"Who?" Annabelle asked, feeling completely clueless.

"You know, Daniel," Caroline repeated, and Annabelle shook her head, "Tall, dark hair, amazing eyes..." she trailed off as Annabelle continued to stare at her blankly, "Oh, never mind. Damon wouldn't dance with me, so I asked Daniel," Caroline explained, and Annabelle nodded in understanding. "So... what are you two doing?"

"Oh, uh, we were just dancing," Annabelle replied as Stefan gave Caroline a small, polite smile in greeting.

"You were... dancing," Caroline repeated slowly, looking them over as if searching for a sign of something, and Annabelle simply nodded, a bit afraid of where Caroline was going.

"Uh, would you two like some?" Stefan asked, taking two glasses of champagne off of a tray that one of the waiters was carrying around.

"Uh, no, thank you," Annabelle managed to give him a small smile, "I don't really drink much these days," she said, and Caroline gave her a sympathetic smile, knowing fully well why Annabelle hated drinking, before taking a glass from Stefan's hand.

"Just tell me if you see my mom," she said, before taking a sip.

"What'd we miss?" came a voice from behind Stefan, and the three turned around to look at Damon, who walked over to the three with Elena by his side.

"We were just chatting," Stefan replied, before holding his glass out to Damon. "Drink, Damon?"

"No, thanks, I'll pass," Damon said, and Stefan smiled at him somewhat tightly, making Annabelle and Elena look between the two curiously.

"Stefan. Do you have another dance in you?" Elena finally spoke up, making Stefan break his eye-contact with Damon.

"Absolutely," he smiled, before putting the glass of champagne on the table beside them and taking her hand, leading her off to the dance floor.

"Annabelle," came another voice from the side, and Annabelle turned around, only to see Mrs. Lockwood gesturing for her to join her a few feet away.

"Mrs. Lockwood," Annabelle smiled at the woman once she walked up to her, leaving Caroline and Damon alone.

"There you are," Mrs. Lockwood smiled. "I noticed the watch still isn't in the collection,"

"Oh," Annabelle's eyes widened in realization, seeing as she completely forgot about that pocket watch, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood, I couldn't find it. I think it might still be packed up in my parents' stuff somewhere," she lied.

"I see," Mrs. Lockwood smiled a bit tightly. "Well, please let me know if you do find it,"

"Of course," Annabelle nodded with a smile, and Mrs. Lockwood returned it before walking away, while Annabelle released a quiet sigh of relief.

* * *

After finally visiting the Heritage Display like she intended to from the beginning of the party, Annabelle wandered around the Lockwood Mansion a little before arriving at the dining room, and simply looking around. At the mayor's house even the dining room looked like from a fairy tale.

"Look around," Annabelle heard a hushed voice and turned around, only to see Mrs. Lockwood standing by the dining table with one of the waiters, "What's missing? The flames, the candles, why aren't they lit?" she hissed quietly, clearly frustrated as the waiter, who looked no older than early 20's, looked around helplessly, "There's matches in the kitchen," Mrs. Lockwood said, and the waiter nodded, before quickly walking out of the room, rolling his eyes as soon as he turned around, with the mayor's wife following him, shaking her head and sighing in irritation but giving Annabelle a smile as she passed her.

"Wow," Annabelle whispered to herself, before shaking her head and deciding to leave the dining room as to not get scolded as well if anything, anything at all, happened while she was there alone, seeing how important even the smallest details are to Mrs. Lockwood. _That's probably the reason why she and Caroline were always on such good terms_ , Annabelle thought to herself with a quiet chuckle as she turned around, about to leave the room, when she suddenly stopped as a small, bright glow caught her attention from the corner of her eye.

Furrowing her brows in confusion, Annabelle turned her head to the side, only for her eyes to widen as she saw the lit candle on the wall stand, the flame bright and full. _What the hell?_ Annabelle thought, knowing fully well that none of candles in that room were lit only a second ago.

Suddenly, a thought popped into her head, and she took in a deep breath as she slowly turned around, only to nearly stagger backwards as she saw the now brightly lit room before her, with every single candle, whether on the table, the walls, or the chandelier, now burning.

"Anna! Oh, thank God, I was looking everywhere for you," Annabelle recognized the relieved voice behind her as Bonnie's, but didn't have the strength to turn around as she continued to stare at the candles, "Listen, I don't know what's happening to me. I just..." Bonnie lowered her voice, "I just lit a candle. By _looking_ at it!" she hissed, her voice shaking.

"Yeah?" Annabelle answered weakly, her voice also shaking as she continued to stare at the candles surrounding them. "Well, join the club,"

* * *

"God, where is she?" Annabelle whispered to herself as she walked around the Lockwood Mansion grounds, looking for her best friend. After calming down about the candle-lighting incident, she and Bonnie had a small talk, each one telling the other what happened to them that night. They had a while to calm down, before going their separate ways, Bonnie deciding to get another drink and Annabelle deciding to find Caroline, hoping that the blonde's bubbly attitude would take all her worries away, at least for a little while. However, she's been looking for over 15 minutes, and still couldn't find her best friend anywhere.

After walking around for a few more minutes, Annabelle finally saw the familiar silhouette of her best friend on the grounds by the dance floor, and breathed a sigh or relief.

"Caroline?" she called. "Oh, thank God, I was looking everywhere for you!" she exclaimed as she finally reached the blonde, only then noticing the stiffness in her posture, "Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"Mm-hmm, I'm fine," Caroline said shakily, breathing heavily, turning around to look at her best friend while placing a hand over her chest.

"Caroline..." Annabelle trailed off as she noticed the blonde shaking.

"I'm fine," Caroline said again, her voice cracking as she started to breathe even more heavily, nearly hyperventilating.

"Care..."

"I'm fine," Caroline tried again, but couldn't control her breathing at that point at all.

"Hey, come here," Annabelle murmured, seeing that her best friend was about to completely break down as she started sobbing into Annabelle's shoulder, "Shh, you're okay. Everything's gonna be okay," Annabelle tried to calm Caroline down, letting her cry for as long as she needed to, silently promising that she will always be there for her.

* * *

 _I did what I had to do. To protect Elena. To protect Annabelle. To protect everyone._ Stefan threw Damon on the ground in the cell in the basement of the boarding house, before locking the door shut. _Yes, Damon, the headline reads, 'Deadly Beast Captured. All is Well in Mystic Falls.'_

* * *

 ** _A/N:_ ** I hope you all liked the chapter! I tried to to mix the events of the episode with Annabelle's interactions with almost every single one of the characters, as well as her internal battles and personal issues, so I hope I managed.

I hope there wasn't too much of Elena bashing in this chapter. Annabelle is just really sick of Elena's attitude towards their brother, because Jeremy has been through just as much pain as them, if not more, and Elena is just always so hard on him that it makes _my_ blood boil, so think how Annabelle would feel. I, personally, really hate Elena. I much prefer Bonnie and Caroline, especially Caroline, simply because I feel like they're the ones who grew and matured the most throughout the show, while Elena just remained a selfish, and quite spoiled, brat, who thinks that everyone will sacrifice everything to save her 'precious' life. Also, if you have any suggestions on who should be Annabelle's love interest, please let me know. I already have everything planned out, but if someone jumps out with something super good, I might just change my mind.

By the way, sorry for the lack of romance, but I, personally, believe in slowly-developing relationships a lot more than I believe in 'love at first sight', so I think I also want to insert that into the story.

Anyways, I hope you all liked the chapter, and please don't forget to review!


	5. You're Undead to Me

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' in any shape or form. But I do own my OC's._

 ** _A/N:_** Hopefully, you guys like this chapter! We'll see the Sexy Suds Car Wash and the mystery behind Stefan Salvatore, as well as some more insight on Layla. And don't worry, Damon will return to the main story-line next chapter in _Lost Girls_.

 _ **Reviews:**_

kitsune-miko-witch: Thank you! Well, here's the thing. I absolutely love Klaus, but I never really liked Kol all that much until the second season of 'The Originals' when he appeared as Kaleb. And I'm not going to take this story into 'The Originals', so I think Klaus will have to do with Hayley either way because that's going to be a separate story-line. However, I appreciate your suggestion, and there is definitely something in it that I love.

: That would be interesting, yes, especially in the Elena aspect. But I guess you'll just have to wait and see.

Guest: Yeah, I absolutely hate Elena, I really do. Everyone always pretty much jumps into the fire for her, but she does not deserve that at all. I'm glad you like Annabelle. And yeah, I really wanted Jeremy to have a sister who wouldn't constantly smother and judge him. Well, Damon/Annabelle/Stefan wouldn't really work out because that's Elena's love triangle it's pretty much the key to the story's plot, but Annabelle will have an interesting relationship with both of them.

Lady Vaughan: Thank you! Yeah, I really wanted Jeremy to have a sister who wouldn't just blindly agree and support Elena in all her decision, especially concerning him. I just hate Elena, I honestly hate everything about her. And Finn... I honestly never really thought about it, and though I do appreciate your suggestion, I think Finn was the first character I crossed off the list when choosing the love interest/s for Annabelle. I really never liked him, in fact I hated him in 'The Originals', and so I just can't imagine writing a Finn love story, 'cause I honestly don't think I would like it. I'm sorry if I disappoint you, but Finn is just in the 'NO' category for me. But I hope you continue reading the story.

ameliemallette1: Oui, Elena est une grande hypocrite. Je déteste Elena.

 **Love Also Has Thorns**

 **Chapter 5**

 **You're Undead to Me**

"Hey," Annabelle and Jenna turned their heads as they heard the whisper, only to see Elena entering the kitchen. "Are you two aware of what's going on upstairs?"

"Yup," Annabelle nodded.

"Uh-huh," Jenna answered at the same time.

"And neither of you have objections?" Elena asked, glancing between the two incredulously, her gaze resting longer on Annabelle, who was wearing a gray short-sleeved crop-top, dark skinny jeans, and black leather sandals. Her right wrist was decorated by a black beaded bracelet, while the bracelet she received from Stefan (which Elena still didn't know about) was on her left wrist, and her hair was up in a messy bun. Elena was surprised that her sister seemed to be so calm about the situation, especially since she knew how much Annabelle disliked Vicki.

"Oh, trust me, I have many," Annabelle said, "But he could be craftier about it; at least make an effort to sneak her in and out," she said, referring to Jeremy and Vicki most likely making out at the moment upstairs. She was more than unhappy and a bit disgusted with it, but her brother finally seemed to be happy; happy that Vicki 'chose him', and he seemed to be actually moving on from their parents' deaths. She wasn't going to take that away from him.

"Oh, just so you know, I won't be home for dinner," Jenna said with a smile in her voice as she continued writing her paper, while Elena grabbed a bowl from the cabinet.

"Hmm, so you're actually going to do it," Annabelle mused with a small smirk. "You're gonna go out with Logan,"

"I'm gonna show up and torture him, yes," Jenna said, looking up fro her paper to look at her niece, making Annabelle chuckle, before switching her gaze to Elena. "Have you heard from Stefan?"

"Not since he left that very vague message three days ago," Elena replied as she grabbed her favorite cereal from the cabinet, "'Hi, um, Elena, I, um, I have something I have to do, I'll, uh, I'll explain in a few days.'," she imitated Stefan's voice, making Jenna chuckle as Annabelle bit her lip to stop the laugh bubbling in her chest from coming out.

"Haven't you called him?" Jenna asked, still smiling.

"Nope," Elena replied as she continued making herself breakfast. "Not going to, either,"

"And you're okay with everything?" Annabelle asked in disbelief, not buying Elena's 'I don't care' act.

"No, I'm not okay with any of it," Elena snapped as she slammed the milk down on the counter, making Annabelle raise her hands in surrender. "But I'm not gonna cry about it, either. You know, I was gonna write in my diary this morning, and then I thought, what am I gonna write? Honestly, I'm not gonna be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy," she rambled, before finally stopping as she put a mouthful of cereal in her mouth.

"Okay, then," Annabelle said as she looked at her sister with wide eyes, Jenna wearing the same expression, making Elena sigh.

"I'll be fine," she grumbled, before walking away, while Annabelle and Jenna shared a wide-eyed look before Annabelle shrugged as she took in a deep breath, wondering how much longer Elena will be able to hold up her act. She then gave her aunt a smile before getting up and making sure to grab her school bag before heading out, wanting to visit Caroline before school.

It's been four days since Annabelle found the blonde shaking on the Lockwood Mansion grounds, and even though Caroline claimed to be fine as early as the next day, not wanting to trouble anyone, Annabelle was still worried about her best friend.

* * *

"I remember the party," Caroline spoke as she sat in front of the mirror in her room, while Bonnie and Annabelle lied side-by-side on her bed, Bonnie holding a candle in her hands and keeping her eyes on it, while Annabelle tried her hardest not to look at the candle. She was still beyond freaked out after what happened at the Founders' Party. "Damon came up behind me, and he was... kissing my neck, or... biting my neck... I passed out. It's like there's holes in my memory lately, it's just weird... Maybe I let him bite me,"

"Why would you do that?" Annabelle asked curiously as she sat up, looking at Caroline in concern, and the blonde was silent for a few seconds before taking in a deep breath.

"Can we just not talk about it, okay?" she asked, a silent note of pleading lingering in her voice, "I just... don't wanna talk about Damon. I don't wanna talk about... any of it. Just want to go back to normal," she said as she continued covering up the bite mark on her neck with makeup, "What are you doing with that candle?" she asked, looking at Bonnie through the mirror, making the dark-skinned girl look up.

"Um... nothing," she answered quietly before putting the candle away on Caroline's nightstand, "What's this?" Bonnie asked as she picked up a necklace of an antique iron setting with an amber crystal.

"Damon gave it to me," Caroline replied, "Or... he was going to give it to me," she said as she stood up from her vanity and walked over to stand beside the bed on Annabelle's side. "All I know is it's mine now,"

"It's ugly," Bonnie commented with a grimace.

"Well, then get your grubby hands off it," Caroline said as she pulled the necklace out of Bonnie's hands, before hanging it on her purse hook stand.

* * *

"The Sexy Suds Car Wash is tomorrow," Caroline spoke as she passed out programs to the students in the hallways of Mystic High about half an hour later, while Bonnie, Elena, and Annabelle all stood by the lockers a few feet away, "The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who can pull off a bikini. I want in-your-face sexy. I mean, it's a fundraiser, for God's sake," she spoke as she she walked through the hallway with two cheerleaders on either sides of her.

"Unbelievable," Elena said as she watched the blonde. "It's like nothing happened,"

"She's in denial," Bonnie shook her head, and Annabelle sighed.

"Or maybe she's trying to get things back to normal, _like she said_ ," she defended her best friend, making Elena look at her incredulously, while Bonnie seemed to think about what she said. "Besides, this is Caroline we're talking about. You know she hates to worry others, especially when it comes to something to do with or because of her,"

"Hey," Annabelle heard a voice behind her, and turned around, only to come face-to-face with Stefan, whom none of them have seen for the past four days.

"Hey, uh, you know, I gotta go, uh, be somewhere right now," Bonnie quickly scurried away.

"I'll come with," Annabelle quickly agreed, giving Stefan a small smile before catching up with Bonnie, both knowing that Stefan wanted to speak to Elena.

* * *

Annabelle's brows furrowed in confusion when she heard a knock on the door as she walked past it on her way into the living room later that day after school, wondering why whoever was a the door didn't use the bell, since it was very probable that a knock wouldn't have been heard if no one was downstairs.

She decided not to wonder about unimportant things, and opened the door, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw Stefan on the front porch.

"Hi," he gave her a small smile, which she returned after quickly getting over her shock.

"Hey," she greeted him back. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I need you help," Stefan said, and Annabelle looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, silently asking him what was going on, "With you sister," he clarified, and Annabelle's look turned into one of understanding immediately.

"Ah," she nodded, "You mind me asking what happened between you two?"

"I made a mistake," he admitted, making her look at him curiously. "I've been keeping secrets from her, and that's not the right thing to do,"

"Let me guess - Katherine," Annabelle said, and Stefan smiled a small smile.

"Not just that, but yes," he nodded, and Annabelle gave him a smile, before stepping aside.

"Come on in," she said, and he gave her a grateful smile before entering the house as she closed the door behind them. "She's upstairs,"

"I was thinking... I happen to be a good cook, do you mind if I...?" Stefan gestured towards the Gilberts' kitchen, and Annabelle smiled.

"Knock yourself out," she said, and Stefan gave her another grateful smile before walking into the kitchen, "By the way," Annabelle called after him, making him turn around to look at her, "Chicken Parmesan is her favorite. And we happen to have all the ingredients," she said with a smile, and Stefan returned it, "I'll go get her," she said quietly with a smile, and started heading towards the stairs.

"Anna," Stefan called quietly, and Annabelle halted to look at him, "Thank you," he said gratefully, and Annabelle gave him a smile before heading upstairs. Once she reached the hallway, she headed towards Elena's room, whose door was open.

"Hey," she said, seeing her sister lying on her stomach on the bed, sulking. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm miserable," Elena replied, not bothering to turn around.

"Well, maybe you should go get something to eat," Annabelle suggested nonchalantly, and Elena stayed still for a few seconds before eventually getting up and nodding.

"Okay," she said, and stepped out of her room, heading downstairs. As soon as Elena couldn't see her, Annabelle's lips pulled up in a smile. Stefan was such a sweet guy, coming over to their house to cook for Elena only to apologize for a small thing she got angry about, and Annabelle would be the worst sister ever if she let Elena throw something like that away.

Although she did think that her sister was being unreasonable. Sure, she understood why Elena got angry. Annabelle hated when people kept things from her as well. But it was more than that; Elena got angry not only because Stefan was keeping a few things from her, but because he didn't want to tell her about _Katherine_ , and Annabelle truly thought that, in that aspect, Elena was being ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Elena walked down the stairs, halting for a second when she heard clattering in the kitchen. Her brows furrowed in confusion, knowing that Annabelle was still upstairs, as was Jeremy (with Vicki, no doubt), and Jenna wasn't supposed to be home for dinner.

"Jenna?" she called, but received no answer. Elena reached the bottom of the stairs, and rounded the corner, heading towards the kitchen, "Jenna?" she called out again, but, once again, received no answer. She then reached the kitchen and opened the glass doors, stepping inside, only to stop abruptly, "Stefan?" she asked when she saw the young man in her kitchen, who looked up when she entered. "What are you doing here?"

"Dinner," Stefan replied as he continued cutting the mozzarella cheese, "Anna told me that Chicken Parmesan is your favorite, and I happen to be a good cook. Italian roots demand it. I can even make my own homemade mozzarella. Only tonight, it is, uh, unfortunately," he held up the box of mozzarella with a small smile on his lips. "Store-bought. Sorry,"

"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish," Elena said as she walked over to stand in front of him.

"You want to know me, right?" Stefan asked, and she nodded. "I figure if you're gonna dump me, you should at least, um, know who you're dumping," he said. "So let's start with Katherine,"

"Stefan-"

"She was... one of the most beautiful girls that I had ever met," Stefan said, "She had this perfect olive skin. And... she had this laugh. It was, it was ridiculous. I mean, her laugh made you laugh. And she was fun, she knew how to have a good time. But... Katherine was also very impatient and entitled and selfish, and, um, impulsive. Enter Damon. He claims that he was with her first. I don't know. I do know that I did some things that... I'm not proud of. And my biggest regret... is not being able to make it right before she died," Stefan spoke, and Elena nodded, feeling sympathetic towards her boyfriend. "I miss her, but... I'm no longer crippled by her loss,"

"What about Layla?" she asked gently.

"Layla... was Katherine's sister. Twin, to be exact," Stefan said, and Elena's eyes widened. "And she was beautiful. Even more beautiful than Katherine, some would say. She had this porcelain skin, and beautiful blue eyes that shined every time she smiled. It was impossible not to smile in her presence," Stefan smiled a small smile as he remembered the days he spent with the beautiful girl, "She became my best friend in a very short time. I could tell her anything. She was also very close with Damon, but I like to think she and I were closer," he smiled, and Elena couldn't help but smile a small smile as well, "I had feelings for her. I did. For quite some time, but she never knew. I didn't want to destroy our friendship in case she didn't feel the same. But then, I don't know even how or when, I started to have feelings for Katherine, and I started to spend less time with Layla. And my biggest regret about that... is not mending our friendship before she died,"

* * *

"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay-you-later's," Caroline instructed the Gilbert sisters the next day at the Secy Suds Car Wash. "We are not running a charity here,"

"No, we are not," Annabelle quickly nodded in agreement, just as Stefan walked up behind her and Elena.

"Hi," he greeted, and Elena looked up, a smile breaking out on her face when she saw him.

"Hey," she grinned, immediately standing up from where she was sitting beside Annabelle by the money stand, Annabelle following suit.

"Uh, the event is called _Sexy_ Suds, you know," Caroline eyed Stefan, Annabelle, and Elena's layered clothing critically as she also stood up, before walking away.

"Did we just get scolded?" Stefan asked.

"And judged. Yeah," Annabelle nodded with a tight smile, before giving him a real smile, which he returned, and walking past him and her sister, knowing that Elena will handle the money until Caroline came back. She quickly took off her thin gray sweater and white see-through crop-top, leaving her in her light jean shorts and her quite sexy navy blue bikini with gold clips on the shoulder strings, her hair falling on her left shoulder in a messy braid as she walked over to Bonnie and Matt, who were both already washing a car, "Hey, guys,"

"Hey," Bonnie greeted her best friend with a smile, but Matt kept quiet, which made the two girls turn to look at him, only to see him gazing sadly at Elena and Stefan, who were kissing at the moment. The two girls shared a sympathetic look, before Annabelle turned to Matt.

"Uh-uh. No. None of that tortured pining stuff, okay?" she said, snapping Matt's attention back to her and Bonnie.

"I'm just observing," Matt said nonchalantly, and Annabelle gave him a look.

"Mm-hmm," she and Bonnie both hummed sarcastically, before Bonnie turned to one of the cheerleaders as a young man pulled up in his car.

"Tiki! This one's yours," she pointed to the car.

"Why do I always get the homely ones?" Tiki groaned, and Annabelle stared at her in disbelief. How could she be so rude, especially since the car's owner could hear her? "Just to be clear, your car's a P.O.S. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a P.O.S.," Tiki said to the young man after he got out the car.

"You don't have to be rude," Annabelle snapped, glaring at the dark-skinned girl.

"Yeah, 'rude' is uglying up the road with that junker," Tiki retorted as the young man walked away.

Annabelle glared at the cheerleader, feeling her blood boil. She always hated rude people and bullies, and could never stand for someone to belittle someone else in front of her. Not noticing her own actions, Annabelle's eyes traveled down to the bucket Tiki was filling up with water, and then to the hose in the dark-skinned girl's hand. Annabelle once again thought about the anger she felt towards Tiki at the moment, when suddenly water exploded from the hose, splashing Tiki with the water mixed with the washing liquid for the cars from the bucket in the process, making Tiki scream and jump back as the hose continued to splash her with water. Annabelle and Bonnie jumped back, the Gilbert staring at the scene before her with wide eyes as she tried to comprehend what just happened, while Matt ran over to Tiki, who continued to scream as the hose continued to splash water in her face.

"What the...?! Oh, my God! What the hell?!"

"Whoa! Hey!" Matt exclaimed as he ran over to her, quickly grabbing the hose from her and turning the water down, before looking at the girl with laughter clear in his eyes and expression as he handed her a towel, "Wet and wild, Tik," he said, just barely managing to hold in his laughter as he turned to look at Bonnie, who was staring at Tiki with her mouth wide open as she also tried not to laugh, and Annabelle, who was still staring at Tiki with wide eyes and a slightly fearful expression.

"Uh, I'm gonna go get some towels," she said to Bonnie, her eyes still on Tiki.

"Okay," Bonnie said quietly, inspecting Annabelle's expression for a few seconds, seeing the fear in her eyes. Her eyes widened in realization, "Wait a second," she grabbed Annabelle's arm as the Gilbert girl proceeded to walk away, "Did you do this?" Bonnie asked in a whisper.

"I don't know," Annabelle whispered back, before pulling her arm away and walking away quickly. It's true, she didn't know. She had no control over any of that. Sure, it could have been a coincidence. Just because she was angry at Tiki (which was nothing out of the ordinary, by the way) and a hose splashed the dark-skinned girl a few moments later didn't mean anything. It _could_ have been just a coincidence... But Annabelle didn't believe in coincidences anymore.

"Hey!" she called out to her sister, who was now sitting by the money stand and was talking to an older dark-skinned man with a white beard. "We're out of towels,"

"Yeah, I know. Caroline went to grab some," Elena replied as she continued to fiddle with the money in the case, and Annabelle nodded as she plopped down next to her with a sigh.

"Okay, I'll wait," she said, but not in an annoyed tone. In fact, she was more than happy to stay away from Tiki for the time being.

"That'll be $20," Elena turned to the older man in front of them, who hummed in acknowledgement as she took out his wallet, "I saw you last night," Elena said, making Annabelle looked at her with furrowed eyebrows as the man looked at looked at Elena, "You were talking to a friend of mine? At the Grill?" Elena prompted the man's memory, as he didn't seem to recall what she was talking about.

"Well, I... I thought it was somebody I knew," the man nodded.

"Stefan Salvatore,"

"Nah, it can't be," the man shook his head. "It's... just my mind playing trick on me," he said, and Annabelle leaned forward in interest, wondering why the man said that it 'couldn't have been' Stefan.

"Wait, where do you think you'd seen him before?" she asked curiously, and the man turned to look at her.

"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore Boarding House,"

"Oh," Elena murmured in interest.

"Stefan was... just passing through to visit his uncle. I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack,"

"The attack?" Annabelle repeated with furrowed brows.

"His uncle got killed," the man clarified. "Mauled by an animal in the woods,"

"His uncle, Zach?" Elena asked, and Annabelle turned to give her a look. How on Earth could it have been Zach if Zach Salvatore still lived at the boarding house today, fully alive and healthy?

"Mm-mmm," the man shook his head. "Joseph,"

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't think we're familiar with the story," Annabelle said, not wanting the man to think that she and Elena were being nosy.

"Oh, how could you? I mean, this happened years ago," the man said in an understanding voice.

"Grandpa, you gotta go," came a voice from behind Elena, and she and Annabelle turned around, only to see Tiki walking up to them, which made Annabelle stiffen a bit, "Mom wants you home. Okay?" Tiki said, and the man nodded before walking away, and Tiki turned to Elena. "He wasn't bugging you, was he? He's a little alzy-heimer,"

"Uh, no, he was sweet," Elena replied as she and Annabelle got up from their seats and quickly walked after the man, both of them wanting to hear the rest of the story and Annabelle wanting to get away from Tiki, "Hey, sir," Elena put a hand on Tiki's grandfather's shoulder, pulling him to a stop gently as she and Annabelle stopped in front of him. "I'm sorry, um, are you sure that the man that you saw... that you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?"

"Yes," the man nodded. "I remember his ring, and his brother-"

"Damon?" Annabelle interrupted, and the man nodded.

"Yeah. Stefan and Damon Salvatore," he said, and the girls shared a look.

"When was this?" Annabelle asked after a second.

"It was early June, 1953. Yeah. June, 1953,"

* * *

"Your car was done an hour ago," Elena said to her aunt as she and Annabelle, who was now wearing her white see-through crop-top over her bikini, walked up to Jenna, who was sitting by the television news channel trailer. After their conversation with Tiki's grandfather, Elena talked to Stefan for a few minutes, while Annabelle helped Bonnie and Matt finish washing the car they were working on. After they were done, the three decided to take a break, and Annabelle decided to talk to Jenna for a few minutes, and on her way to the strawberry blonde, she bumped into her sister.

"You're saying that out loud why?" Jenna asked as she stood up to face her nieces, just as Logan Fell came out from behind the trailer.

"Hi," he greeted the brunettes, "Elena and Annabelle, right?" he asked, pointing to each one as he said their names, before reaching his out his hand to shake Elena's first, and then Annabelle's. "I think I met you two once when you were nine,"

"Oh," Elena nodded.

"Your emotional maturity level when we were together," Jenna said, looking at Logan, making Annabelle bite her lip so that she wouldn't laugh out loud.

"Ouch. Here I thought we were making progress," Logan retorted.

"Is he enough in your good graces for us to ask him a favor?" Annabelle asked, making Elena look over at her with furrowed brows, not knowing what her sister was talking about.

"If I do them a favor, will I get back in your good graces?" Logan asked, he and Annabelle both looking at Jenna.

"Uh, a very reluctant 'maybe' to both," Jenna replied.

"Done. Wait. One condition. Dinner, tonight, your house," Logan said, and Annabelle raised her eyebrows at Jenna with a smirk on her lips.

"Fine," Jenna gave in. "But you're eating leftovers,"

"Ooh," Logan said, making Annabelle and Elena chuckle, before turning to the two brunettes with a charming grin on his handsome face. "What do you need?"

"Do you have access to old news stories? Say, the 50's?" Annabelle asked, and Elena slowly caught onto what she was doing.

"Yeah, at the station. Between the archives and the internet, we pretty much have everything," Logan replied.

"We have this report, way past due. It'd be a life saver," Annabelle said, a hint of pleading in her tone, and Elena took the time to appreciate her sister's acting skills.

"I'm heading there now," Logan said, and Annabelle and Elena smiled. "Let's go,"

"If anyone asks, especially Caroline, you don't know where we went," Annabelle said to Jenna as Elena followed Logan. "I really don't want her to know that I left, 'cause she's gonna kill me if she finds out," she said, and Jenna nodded in understanding as her niece gave her a quick hug before jogging to catch up with Elena and Logan.

* * *

"We digitized all our archives last year," Logan told Elena and Annabelle as they walked through the station 15 minutes later. "You can pull all the remote footage right up on screen. What is it exactly you're looking for?"

"An incident from 1953," Annabelle replied as he held the door open for her and Elena.

"If it even happened," Elena interjected, and Annabelle shot her a look before looking back at Logan.

"At the old Salvatore Boarding House," she finished, and Logan nodded just as his phone rang.

"Sorry, one second," he said to the girls as they sat down in front of the TV screens, "Yeah?... Fire? Alright. I'll be right there," he spoke to someone on the phone before hanging up, "I gotta go. You believe there's actual news to cover in this town?" he joked, making the girls smile, "Alright, use keywords to search the database. It's pretty easy to navigate. And Brady down in Tech will help you out with anything you need,"

"Okay," the girls nodded.

"Alright?" Logan smiled, before proceeding to head out, only to stop and turn back around to face them, "Oh, hey. Could you put in a good word for me with Jenna?" he asked hopefully, and Annabelle chuckled.

"You got it," she grinned.

"Alright," Logan grinned in return, an almost daze-like look on his face, "Good luck," he said, before turning around and walking out of the room, closing the door behind him. Annabelle turned back around to look at the TV screens, and couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head.

"I swear, he's like a lovesick teenager," she said with a grin, making Elena grin as well.

"It's kind of cute," she said, and Annabelle couldn't help but agree.

"Alright," Annabelle took in a deep breath, before placing her fingers on the keyboard and typing 'Joseph Salvatore + animal attack' into the search database. She clicked 'enter' and one match popped up on screen, titled 'Joseph Salvatore' from June 12, 1953, "Gotcha," she murmured to herself, before clicking on the match, which opened up a black and white film from the early 50's.

 _"This is Michael Fell reporting to you from the Salvatore Boarding House, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy,"_ the news reporter on the film spoke, looking into the camera, _"Okay, they're bringing out the body, see if you can get closer,"_ Michael Fell said to the cameraman as the body of Joseph Salvatore was rolled out of the house, completely covered with a sheet, _"Is that the nephew?"_ Michael asked the cameraman, and the camera suddenly swerved to the house, where a young man stood in the shadows. As the quality improved, Annabelle leaned forward as her and Elena's eyes widened, and quickly zoomed in on the footage. The camera then also zoomed in on the face of Joseph Salvatore's nephew, and even though the footage's quality wasn't the best, seeing as it was from the early 50's, both girls could make out the face of Stefan Salvatore.

* * *

Annabelle paced back and forth in her bedroom for more than a few minutes later in the evening, before stopping abruptly as a thought hit her.

 _Someone who never grows old..._

 _"1953,"_

 _Someone who never gets hurt..._

 _"Oh, my God, your hand! Is it deep? How bad is it?"_

 _Bodies drained of blood..._

 _"Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?"_

 _"She said it was a vampire,"_

Annabelle felt as if someone just punched her in the gut as she sat down on her bed heavily, her legs giving out form beneath her.

"Oh, my God,"

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Well, that was the end of _You're Undead to Me_. I hope you all liked a bit more Stefan/Annabelle friendship, even though there wasn't much of it in this chapter. Next chapter's where Damon returns into Annabelle's life and _Lost Girls_. It'll be an awesome episode where we can finally get the Stefan/Damon 1864 story.

Anyway, I hope you all liked the chapter. I thought I should have Annabelle be involved in one of the two magical incidents at the Sexy Suds Car Wash, just to show a bit more of her fear, how she doesn't know what's happening to her or Bonnie, and her developing 'abilities'. I hope you liked the way I portrayed her emotion triggering the 'magic'. I was really tempted to have Annabelle light Tiki's car on fire, but then I thought that it would be too much, especially since the car fire was teh reason Bonnie went to her grams, looking for help because she was scared of what was happening to her, and I didn't want to mess that up.

See you next time!


	6. Lost Girls

**_Disclaimer:_** _I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' in any shape of form. But I do own my OC's._

 ** _A/N:_** Okay, this is the Lost Girls chapter, and Damon returns to the storyline. We'll also see how Annabelle's relationship with Stefan has developed, and we'll get to see some of Stefan's history with not only Katherine, but also Layla.

 _ **Reviews:**_

adela: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like it!

 **Love Also Has Thorns**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Lost Girls**

 _Mystic Falls, Virginia 1864_

 _Stefan Salvatore stepped out onto his front porch, watching the arriving carriage with with leaf green eyes as he stood straight with his hands behind his back._

 _"Whoa," the driver of the carriage called, pulling the horses to a stop, and Stefan could vaguely see the silhouettes of three women in the carriage. The driver then jumped off of his seat on the carriage and placed a stepping stool by the door of the carriage, before opening the door._

 _A young, dark-skinned woman's head peaked out from the carriage, and the driver held out his hand, helping her out of the carriage. She was dressed in simple clothing, certainly not of a standard to own her own carriage. The dark-skinned woman gave the driver a nod in thanks, before stepping to the other side and holding out her hand as another woman, dressed in finer clothing, stepped out of the carriage, holding onto the dark-skinned woman's hand._

 _Once she stepped out of the carriage gracefully, the young woman looked up, and Stefan felt his breathing stop for a second in shock. The young woman was gorgeous, her curly dark brown hair pulled back in an elegant bun, a few strand curls decorating her delicate face. Her lips were pulled back in a subtle smirk as she eyed him with her brown eyes, her ivory skin adding on to her elegance._

 _Stefan took in a deep breath, before forcing himself to step forward. He walked down the steps of his front porch as the young woman eyed him, while the dark-skinned woman quickly fixed her dress in any spots it might have gotten wrinkled in the carriage before stepping back towards the carriage._

 _"You must be Miss Pierce," Stefan greeted with a polite smile and a small bow once he stopped in front of the beautiful woman._

 _"Please... call me Katherine," the young woman said in a smooth voice and with a smile as she held out her hand for him to take before curtsying elegantly. Stefan nodded with a small smile as he nearly got lost in her eyes, and she in his._

 _"Katherine," came an almost melodious voice from behind Katherine, and Stefan looked over Katherine's shoulder, only to see the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had a perfect figure, one that was noticeable because of her corset. The light violet gown she was wearing showed her high standing in society, her shoulders and collarbones shown, white lace decorating the material of the gown over her chest. Her luminous dark brown hair was pulled back in a styled bun that was formed with multiple braids, her beautiful light blue eyes nearly sparkling as she looked up. Her lips were lightly colored and full, and her skin was so fair it looked as though made out of porcelain. As he looked at her, Stefan nearly forgot his own name._

 _Katherine turned around, almost groaning in annoyance, but stopped herself as she realized that the reason the young woman called her name was because she was standing too close to the carriage, and the blue-eyed woman had trouble stepping out. Katherine quickly stepped to the side, allowing the young woman to step out of the carriage._

 _"May I introduce my sister," Katherine spoke with a small smile on her lips as she moved her eyes back to Stefan, but the smile faltered slightly as she noticed the way he looked at her sister._

 _"Miss Pierce," Stefan bowed after a second, finally managing to start breathing properly once again after getting over his shock as the woman's beauty._

 _"Please, call me Layla," the woman smiled kindly as she curtsied, and Stefan nodded with a smile as he grabbed her hand, before pressing his lips to her knuckles._

* * *

Annabelle sat up on her bed abruptly as she heard the window in Elena's room slam shut, and her brows furrowed in concern as she quickly jumped off the bed and walked down the hallway to her sister's room.

"Elena?" she called as she opened the door, and stopped when she saw her sister sitting on the window seat, breathing heavily with tears in her eyes, "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked as she walked over to her sister.

"It's Stefan," Elena said, her voice cracking as she tried to stop the tears from coming. "He's... He's-"

"A vampire?" Annabelle cut her off, and Elena looked at her with wide eyes. "Yeah, I know,"

"You know?"

"I connected the dots," Annabelle explained, before sighing. "By the looks of it, so did you,"

"But... how is that even possible?" Elena whispered helplessly, and Annabelle sighed again.

"I don't know," she shook her head, before stiffening as the sound of the window slamming shut popped into her head again, "Was he here?" she asked, turning back to look at Elena, who nodded.

"He wanted me to let him explain," she said, "He said that he doesn't drink human blood, that it was Damon who killed all those people, that he would never hurt me, but I just..." Elena trailed off as she choked up, and Annabelle sighed as she leaned against the window, positioning herself on the window seat beside her sister.

"Yeah... I know,"

* * *

"Hey," Elena opened the door to her sister's room the next day, making Annabelle look up from where she was reading one of Edgar Allan Poe's poems that she had to read for school. She was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt that was tucked in her high-waist jean shorts, and an unbuttoned 3/4 sleeved red-white-black flannel blouse with black vans on her feet, her hair up in a messy bun.

"Yeah?" she asked, sitting up on her bed, and Elena took in a deep breath.

"I called Stefan," she said, and Annabelle raised her eyebrows in surprise, "I want answers," Elena clarified, and Annabelle nodded understandingly. She, too, wanted answers, "I asked him to meet with me... Do you want to come with?" Elena asked, and Annabelle hesitated for a second before nodding.

"Yeah,"

* * *

"You said you would explain everything, that's why I asked you to meet us here," Elena said as she, Annabelle, and Stefan sat at a table outside of Mystic Grill, Annabelle and Elena close together on one side of the table, Stefan on the other.

"When you google 'vampire', you get a whole world of fiction," Annabelle spoke up this time, and Stefan nodded as he listened to them speaking. "What's the reality?"

"I can tell you whatever you want to know," Stefan said, willing to do anything he had to in order to keep them his life, as well as have them keep his secret.

"I know you eat garlic," Elena said.

"Yes,"

"And, somehow, sunlight's not an issue," Annabelle spoke up again. " _That's_ what I don't understand,"

Stefan opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a waitress stopping by their table.

"Hi, here are your drinks," she said, placing a cup of coffee in front of Stefan, handing one to Elena, and placing an iced caramel frappuccino in front of Annabelle.

"Thank you," Annabelle murmured, and the waitress nodded before walking away.

"We have rings that protect us," Stefan showed them the ring on his finger, answering Annabelle's question.

"Crucifixes?" Elena questioned.

"Decorative,"

"Holy water?"

"Drinkable,"

"Mirrors?"

"Myth,"

"From what I heard, you said that you don't kill to survive," Annabelle spoke up after Elena stopped questioning Stefan, and the Salvatore nodded. "How is that?"

"Animal blood keeps me alive, but not as strong as Damon," Stefan said. "He can be very powerful,"

"And yet you let him get involved with Caroline?" Annabelle snapped, feeling her blood boil at the thought of her best friend being hurt.

"Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me," Stefan said.

"He was hurting her!" Annabelle snapped.

"He was feeding on her," Stefan corrected. "He was able to take away her memories of being bitten using a form of mind compulsion, she never knew what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have,"

"I'm sorry, is that supposed to make it okay?" Annabelle snapped, glaring at the vampire in front of her, momentarily not caring that he could truly hurt her if he wanted to. All she cared about was that Caroline was hurt, and she wasn't able to do anything about it, and now she was sitting in front of a man who _could_ have done something about it, but didn't.

"No. No, none of this is okay, Anna," Stefan assured her, "I know that," he said, and Annabelle sighed as she rested her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hands for a moment, while Stefan leaned back in his chair.

"Are there any others, aside from you and Damon?" Annabelle spoke up again after a few seconds, looking up.

"Not in Mystic Falls, not anymore,"

"'Not anymore'?" Elena and Annabelle repeated, their brows furrowing.

"There was a time when this town was... very much aware of vampires, and it didn't end well for anybody. That's why it's important that neither of you tell anyone," Stefan explained.

"I can't promise that," Elena shook her head, but Annabelle stayed quiet.

"Elena, Anna... give me today," Stefan said, a hint of pleading in his tone. "I will answer any questions that you two have, and when it's over, you can decide for yourselves what you want to do with what you know," he said. "It'll be your choice,"

The two sisters were silent for a moment, before they both nodded, willing to let Stefan explain everything to them before making a decision. After all, Annabelle always, _always_ , followed the saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover'.

"Come with me... I want to show you something,"

* * *

"Stop here," Stefan told Elena as they drove through the woods, the two sitting in the front with Annabelle in the backseat, and Elena obeyed, stopping the car. As soon as they halted, Stefan got our of the car and started walking further into the woods. Elena's brows furrowed, and she looked at Annabelle over her shoulder. They shared a confused look, before also getting out of the car, Annabelle closing the door behind her and proceeding to follow Stefan. However, she stopped as she turned around and waited for her sister to do the same, but Elena stayed by the car, her hand on the still open door and her body hidden behind it.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, a hint of fear in her voice as she realized that she and her sister were in the middle of nowhere, away from other people, with a vampire.

"I want to show you something," Stefan repeated, his heart clenching at the look of fear in her eyes.

"In the middle of nowhere?" Annabelle asked skeptically, but without fear. For a reason that remained unknown to her, she trusted Stefan. Or at least... a part of her did. A bigger part of her told her to run away as far as possible, but the smaller part of her remained curious. Now knowing the Salvatores' secret, Annabelle wondered if that's why she was always hit with nausea and coldness whenever they touched her or, in Damon's case, even looked at her. But why? Why did she feel like that? Why was she so sure that there was something dangerous about the Salvatores? _How_ did she know that even before she figured out their secret? And, more importantly, why was she choosing to go against her every instinct and trust a _vampire_?

Annabelle had always been a curious person. Some people would even go as far as saying that when she died, it would be because of her curiosity. Perhaps that's why she was choosing to trust Stefan. Because it would be easier... because she wanted to know everything. She wanted to know how he became a vampire. She wanted to know when he became a vampire. She wanted to know why he came back to Mystic Falls. She wanted to know everything. But was her curiosity truly powerful enough to make her ignore the danger and ridiculousness of the very idea and trust a _vampire_?

"This... didn't use to be nowhere," Stefan said, his lips twitching upwards into the smallest of smiles when he saw no fear in her eyes, before turning back around to look at their surrounding, "This used to be my home," he said, before walking further into the woods. Annabelle's brows furrowed, and she looked at Elena over her shoulder, only to see her sister looking at Stefan in interest before finally closing the door of the car. The two girls shared a look, before following Stefan a few feet further into the woods. As he stopped, the girls eyed the ruins they were now standing in front of.

"It looks so..." Elena trailed off as she looked at the two pillars that would be used to decorate a garden. But they were nowhere near beautiful. No, they were nearly in ruin. Big chunks of bricks and clay were missing, and the color wore off over the years.

"Old?" Stefan supplied. "That's because they are,"

"Wait, how long have you...?" Annabelle trailed off, not wanting to seem insensitive or rude but wanting to know all the same. However, there was no need for her to finish the sentence. Elena and Stefan knew exactly what she was asking.

"I've been 17 years old... since 1864," Stefan said, and Annabelle's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, my God," Elena breathed out after a moment of silence, tears building up in her eyes, although she didn't know why.

"You said you wanted to know," Stefan said, "I'm not gonna hold anything back," he said, and Annabelle gave him a nod, silently thanking him for his honesty since she could already tell that it was hard for him to talk about him past, while Elena remained still and silent, "Half century before the Boarding House was even built, this was my family's home," Stefan said as he started walking further into the ruins, "Damon and I... we were both born here," he said, turning around to look at the girls as they followed him. "The Salvatore brothers, best of friends,"

 _"Wait. Where did you learn this game?" Stefan asked his brother as they ran out of the estate and into the garden, Damon holding a football in his hand._

 _"Camp outside Atlanta, one of the officers picked it up at Harvard. Catch!" Damon quickly explained before throwing the ball to Stefan, who caught it swiftly._

 _"Wait a minute. Wait a minute," he said as his brother ran towards him, "What are the rules? What are the rules?" Stefan asked as he quickly dodged Damon._

 _"Who needs rules?" came a voice from behind them, and the two brother stopped running and turned around, only to see Layla, along with Katherine and their dark-skinned maid, on the porch. The blue-eyed woman was wearing a beautiful mint-colored gown, with dark green embroidery decorating the neckline, as well as the short sleeves and the hem of every layer of her three-layered skirt. Her collarbones were shown because of the wide neckline, and her hair was pulled back in an elegant bun, a braid decorating the top of her head, "Mind if we join you?" she asked, gesturing between herself and Katherine as they walked down the steps of the front porch._

 _"Uh... well, you could, uh, you could get hurt," Stefan said, a bit out of breath, as he walked up to the two young women, looking at Layla with a kind and charming smile, "My brother likes to play rough," he said, while Damon eyed the two sisters up and down._

 _"Somehow, I think that you play rougher," Katherine said with a seductive smirk as she took a few steps towards Stefan, the two now only inches apart as she looked into his eyes. Layla rolled her eyes as Stefan looked at Katherine with a slightly uncomfortable expression, and used the moment of distraction to snatch the ball out of his hands. Stefan and Katherine both turned to look at her, but she just laughed before running away, Stefan looking after her with a dazed look._

 _"Why are you just standing there? That is a girl who clearly wants to be chased," Damon said to his brother, who seemed completely mesmerized by the blue-eyed beauty, "If you don't do it, I will," he said, before chasing after Layla. Stefan then finally snapped out of his daze, and quickly chased after his brother and Layla with a carefree smile, neither of them noticing Katherine's heated glare._

"You knew Katherine and Layla in 1864?" Annabelle asked as she, Stefan, and Elena stopped in front of ruins that were definitely once a house, "Damon made it seem like..." she trailed off, not knowing how to phrase it.

"Damon wanted you, both of you, think that... I was still heartbroken," Stefan said, moving to stand in front of them, before looking at Elena. "He saw that I was happy with you, and he wanted to ruin it.

"All because you loved the same woman... 145 years ago?" Annabelle asked in disbelief, wondering just how long the older Salvatore is able to hold a grudge for.

"She wasn't... just any girl," Stefan shook his head as he gave her a small smile, understanding why it seemed hard to believe, "Damon and I were both entranced with her. We both strove to please her, and looked for every possible way of spending time with her. At one point, she needed an escort to the Founders' Ball, and Damon and I both offered to take her," Stefan said as the three walked away from the ruins, towards a small white bench a few feet away. "She chose me. I escorted her to the ball at the original Lockwood Mansion,"

"The first Founders' Party?" Elena asked, and Stefan nodded.

"Where you signed the registry," Annabelle realized, remembering the original guest registry she saw at the Founders' Party a week earlier, and Stefan nodded.

"I didn't care that... I had gotten something that my brother wanted. I didn't even care if it hurt him. I only knew that... I wanted her," he said.

"I'm... guessing he was upset," Annabelle said as she and Elena sat down on the bench.

"That's the thing about Damon," Stefan shook his head. "He doesn't get mad. He just gets even. What Damon wants, Damon usually gets. I-I didn't know it at the time, but... turns out that night... Katherine was with him, too,"

"So... he stole her from you, not the other way around?" Elena asked, confused, feeling even more confused when Stefan shook his head.

"Turns out... she wasn't ours to steal," he said, before slowly walking away from the bench, the Gilbert sisters sharing a confused look before standing up and following him. As he stopped a few feet away, they also stopped and leaned against a tree, "She could control my mind, and Damon's. She compelled each of us to keep the secret from the other. She wanted all of us to be together... forever," Stefan said, before looking down for a second, "Didn't turn out that way, but..." he squatted down and reached down underneath one of the fallen-over white pillars that would have been used to decorate a garden, pulling out a piece of cloth before straightening back up, "Damon and I... looks like we're stuck with each other... like it or not," he said, unfolding the cloth and pulling out a lapis lazuli ring that strongly resembled his daylight ring, and Annabelle's eyes widened as realization dawned on her.

"Is that Damon's ring?" she asked, and Stefan nodded.

"I took it from him, but I have to give it back,"

"No," Elena shook her head, pushing herself off the tree and walking up to him. "Don't, Stefan. Keep it hidden,"

"Elena, if I don't give it to him, he'll retaliate in the only way that he knows he can hurt me," Stefan said, also taking a few steps forward to stand closer to her as Annabelle pushed herself off the tree and walked up to the two.

"And how is that?" Elena asked, exasperated.

"By hurting you," Stefan replied. "Either of you,"

* * *

Stefan, Annabelle, and Elena walked silently back to the car, and Stefan moved ahead to open the door for Elena, who stepped past him and proceeded to get in the car, but stopped and turned around to face him.

"The mind control..." she trailed off. "You said Katherine used. Do you ever do that to me?"

"No," Stefan shook his head as he looked into her eyes earnestly, while Annabelle moved to the backseat door but stayed beside the car, "That necklace," Stefan pointed to the necklace he gave Elena, which was resting around her neck, "It contains an herb called vervain. It protects you from being compelled. I wanted to protect you from Damon's influence," Stefan said, and Elena nodded, before he looked down, "But I also wanted to... protect you from me," he said, before his eyes moved to Annabelle, "It's also why I gave you that bracelet," he said, and Elena's brows furrowed as she turned around to look at her sister, who looked down at the bracelet around her wrist.

"Wait, this bracelet-"

"Contains vervain, yes," Stefan nodded, cutting Annabelle off. Elena's brows furrowed even more as she glanced between her boyfriend and her sister. She thought that she was the only one Stefan gave something to. She thought the necklace was special, that it was a sign of how much he cared about her. Turns out it was only for protection, not for a display of his feelings for her, and turns out he also gave something like that to _her sister._ And she honestly didn't know how to feel about that, "Elena, Anna, you should never take those off," Stefan said, snapping Elena out of her thoughts, and Annabelle nodded, "Because no matter what happens after today," he moved his gaze to Elena, "No matter how you feel about me... you'll both know that you were free to make your own choice,"

* * *

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Annabelle heard her brother's voice from the living room as she, Elena, and Stefan entered the Gilbert house, and she glanced at the two behind her with furrowed eyebrows before quickly making her way into the living room, only to see Matt standing beside Jeremy, who was on the floor with his back against the couch, both in front of Vicki.

"Damn, Vick," Matt cursed, just as Annabelle entered the living room, with Elena and Stefan right behind her.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking at the three people with furrowed eyebrows.

"She's really messed up," Matt said, glancing at his sister as Jeremy got up from the floor.

"Anna, back up," Stefan suddenly spoke up, stepping forward and grabbing Annabelle by her arm to pull her behind him, making everyone look over at him confusedly, "Vicki, look at me," Stefan whispered as he raised his hand and placed it on Vicki's cheek, "Focus," he said quietly, and Vicki looked him in the eyes, "You're gonna be fine," he assured quietly, "Everything's gonna be fine," he said, before looking at Matt and Jeremy, "Guys, take her up to bed, shut the blinds, she's gonna be okay. Come on. Come on," he said, and Matt and Jeremy both quickly obeyed, leading Vicki upstairs.

"You know what's wrong with her?" Elena asked Stefan once they and Annabelle were the only ones in the room.

"Yeah,"

"Well, what is it?" Annabelle asked, and Stefan took in a deep breath before looking at the two girls in front of him.

"She's transitioning," he said, and Annabelle's eyes widened the tiniest bit.

"Transitioning," she repeated slowly, and Stefan nodded. "As in..."

"Yes," he nodded gravely. "Into a vampire,"

"What?" Elena breathed out.

"Damon must have gotten to her. She's new, she hasn't completed her transformation yet," Stefan explained.

"A-And how is she supposed do that?" Annabelle asked hesitantly, fearing the answer, and Stefan hesitated.

"She has to feed on human blood," he finally said.

"And what if she doesn't?" Elena asked, her voice trembling as tears built up in her eyes, and Stefan hesitated again.

"She'll die," he finally said quietly.

"Oh, my God," Elena whispered, before turning around as she put her hand to her forehead in stress, while Annabelle slumped down on the nearest chair numbly.

"She may only have a few hours," Stefan said remorsefully.

"She's upstairs with Jeremy right now," Annabelle pointed out.

"It's okay. She doesn't know what's happening to her yet," Stefan assured the younger twin as Elena paced back and forth.

"And when _is_ she going to know?" Annabelle asked.

"Right now, she doesn't remember anything, a part of her is still human. But slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start to come back. And then she'll know she has to make the choice," Stefan said, and Elena suddenly stopped pacing, while Annabelle put her head in her hands hoping it would help her calm down a bit, and looked at Stefan.

"The same choice you made?" Elena asked Stefan, her voice cold, and he looked down, knowing that there is nothing he could say that would make the situation better.

Elena shook her head, almost as if in disgust, before starting to clean up the kitchen after Vicki made a mess by taking everything out of the refrigerator and eating a lot of food, hoping to preoccupy herself with the work, just as Matt came downstairs.

"Hey," he said to them quietly, and Annabelle gave him a small, weak smile, silently dreading what will happen in the next few hours, "Vick!" Matt suddenly called, and Annabelle, Stefan, and Elena all turned around, only to see Vicki running downstairs with her shoes in her hand. She quickly ran past them, not even so much as glancing at her concerned brother, and ran out the door, "Vick!" Matt called again, and started to run after her. He quickly ran out the door and down the stairs of the front porch, out on the street, but stopped as he looked around, not seeing Vicki anywhere. Annabelle, Elena, and Stefan quickly headed out after him, with Jeremy running downstairs to join them.

"She was fine, and then she just, she just freaked out!" Jeremy said, and they all turned around to look at him as he stood on the porch.

"I'm gonna go look for her, call me if you hear anything!" Matt said hastily, before running down the street.

"I can track her," Stefan said to Elena and Annabelle quietly as they looked after Matt.

"Go," they both said, and Stefan wasted no time in doing just that, hoping to catch Vicki before she fed and completed the transition.

* * *

"Maybe we should check in with Matt," Jeremy said as he and his sisters were in their kitchen less than an hour later, Annabelle and Elena both still cleaning up the mess Vicki made.

"He'll call when he finds her, Jer," Annabelle tried to sound reassuring as she handed him a couple plates, which he put in the sink.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Jeremy asked, hating how helpless he was feeling while Vicki was still out there.

"We wait, we're supposed to wait," Elena said as she brought more plates over to the sink.

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Jeremy said, his voice now soft as she looked at his sisters worriedly.

"She'll be fine," Annabelle said as she placed a hand on his arm, rubbing it softly, and he sighed, "Come on, let's clean this up. Okay?" she said softly, and he nodded reluctantly just as the doorbell rang. They all looked up at the sound, and Elena started walking towards the door, with Jeremy and Annabelle following, all hoping that it would be some news about Vicki.

Elena opened the door, but as soon as she saw who was behind it she gasped and tried to shut it, but a hand stopped her from doing so.

"Jeremy, go upstairs," Annabelle told her brother as she tensed, looking at the newcomer with a glare. Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but decided not to argue and obeyed, going upstairs to his room.

"You're afraid of me," Damon observed with a quirked eyebrow as he looked at the twins. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess. Stefan finally fessed up," he smirked.

"Stay away from us," Elena said, her voice trembling in fear.

"Hey, hey, hey, there's no need to be rude, I'm just looking for Stefan," Damon said. "May I come in? Oh, wait. Of course I can. I've been invited," he smirked, before entering the house as Elena back up, while Annabelle only took a step back, suddenly feeling a bit of bravery rise up within her. Something that silently told her that she could defeat Damon if she wanted to, and though she knew it was ridiculous, she decided to stay where she was, deciding to at least not give Damon the satisfaction of scaring her.

Damon closed the door behind him before walking around as he smirked at the girls over his shoulder.

"We can cut to the chase if you want," he said, before turning around to face them. "I'm not gonna kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda," he crossed his arms over his chest. "So... where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki," Annabelle said, stepping up and in front of Elena, who was still trembling.

"Don't look at me with those judgey little eyes," Damon said, before taking a few steps forward to stand only inches away from Annabelle. "Girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her,"

"Did you thank Katherine?" Annabelle asked coldly, not letting her fear get the best of her, while Elena stared at her sister incredulously, silently asking her if she had a death wish.

"Hmm," Damon was silent for a moment as he looked down, before looking up with a smirk on his lips and turning around to walk into the living room, "Got the whole life story, huh?" he asked.

"I think we got enough," Annabelle said.

"Oh, I doubt _that_ ," Damon said, not turning around, making Annabelle furrow her brows in confusion as she looked at the back of his head, wondering what he meant by that statement. But Damon didn't elaborate, only turned around and headed to the door, "Tell my brother I'm looking for him," he said, before giving the girls a smirk and heading out the door. However, just before the door closed behind him, he turned around and pushed it open, looking at Elena, "Oh. Tip for later. Be careful who you invite in the house," he said, before giving them both a smirk and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Elena and Annabelle sat beside each other on a bench on their porch an hour later, both silent as they thought over the events of that day. Annabelle glanced up as she looked around with a sigh, only to freeze when she saw Stefan coming towards them with blood staining his shirt.

"You're bleeding!" she exclaimed and quickly got up from the bench, heading towards him and looking at the blood in worry. Elena, upon hearing her sister's words, also looked up, and quickly walked towards her and Stefan.

"No, it's okay. It's okay, I'm okay," Stefan said, but his voice was too quiet for him to be completely okay. Annabelle noticed that, and glanced over his facial expression, her own turning into one of worry.

"What happened?" she asked quietly, fearing the answer.

"I couldn't stop her," Stefan replied quietly after a moment of silence, "I tried,"

"What does that mean?" Elena asked, her voice fearful.

"She fed... and then I lost her," Stefan clarified, and Annabelle closed her eyes for a moment as she released a sigh, before backing up to sit down on the bench again.

"Oh, my God," Elena breathed out, tears in her eyes.

"I'll take care of it, I'll find her, and I will show her that she can live like I do, I will make sure that does not hurt anybody, I promise you," Stefan promised, looking between the two girls earnestly.

"Well, what are we supposed to tell Jeremy? And Matt?" Annabelle asked, looking at Stefan with wide eyes.

"We'll come up with a story," he said.

"You mean we'll come up with a lie," she snapped, feeling more anger than worry at the thought of lying to her brother about what happened to the girl he truly cares about, and Stefan sighed.

"I'm so sorry," he said sincerely, looking between Elena and Annabelle.

"I gave you today just like you asked," Elena spoke up as Annabelle leaned back against the wall of her house, deep in thought. "And I understand that you would never do anything to hurt me, and I promise I will keep your secret, but... I can't be with you, Stefan," she said, and Annabelle looked up at her words, seeing Stefan's heartbroken look even from her place a few feet away, "I'm sorry, I... I just can't," Elena said, before quickly turning around and going back into the house.

Annabelle watched Stefan lower his head, and even after a day like this, she felt herself pity the vampire in front of her as she saw his heartbroken look.

"I'm sorry," she spoke up quietly, and Stefan looked up, looking at her in shock, not expecting her to be kind to him after everything he and his brother caused, "Look..." Annabelle sighed, getting up from the bench and taking a few steps towards him, "I know I'm probably an idiot for saying this, but... this isn't your fault. Okay?" she said, and Stefan stared at her silently, just wondering why she was saying all these things when anyone else in her position would hate him, "And... I can't do much, I really can't. Not with everything going on, but... I'll make you this one promise," she said, before looking into his eyes to make him understand that she's being absolutely serious and sincere, "I'll keep your secret," she said, before giving him a small empathetic smile, "Goodnight, Stefan," she then turned around and proceeded to go inside as Stefan stared after her, silently wondering what he did to deserve someone to be so good to him after everything that happened. Silently wondering what he did to deserve that girl in his life.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Wow, this chapter is way shorter that I expected it to be. I honestly felt like it was longer when I was writing it, but it might be because so much has happened in it. Annabelle and Elena confronted Stefan about him being a vampire and he told them his and Damon's story with Katherine and Layla, Damon returned to the storyline, Vicki was turned into a vampire, Stefan was almost killed, Damon killed Logan, Vicki completed the transition, they lost her, Stefan and Elena broke up, Jeremy and Matt are seriously worried about Vicki, and Annabelle's just caught up in the middle of all that. I hope you liked the way I characterized Stefan's relationship with Annabelle, as well as the flashbacks of Layla and Stefan in 1864.

Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter, and don't forget to review!


	7. Haunted

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' in any shape or form. But I do own my OC's._

 ** _A/N:_** _Okay, so this is the episode where Annabelle explains why she doesn't like Vicki, and there will be issues of her dealing with Vicki's transformation._

 ** _Reviews:_**

Ohitssara: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like those characters. I'm trying to make them both different, but both likable at the same time. Thankfully, Layla has only appeared in only one episode so far, so I have a lot of time to think about how to make them different (like Katherine and Elena), but _both_ likable. And I'm glad you chose a couple to ship in my story. We'll see how that plays out! One thing I _can_ promise you is that there will be a bond between Stefan and Annabelle, definitely.

 **Love Also Has Thorns**

 **Chapter 7**

 **Haunted**

Annabelle sighed tiredly as she held a cup of coffee in her hands, her elbows resting on the dining table in the Gilberts' kitchen. She was dressed in black skinny jeans, and a loose white tank top, her bare arms covered by a thin military-green jacket. She had on a pair of her brown combat boots, and her hair was pulled up in a messy bun. She closed her eyes briefly before taking in a deep breath, trying to sort out the plans she had for the day in her head, but finding it difficult as everything that happened since the beginning of the school year replayed in her mind. It's been a month since Vicki completed the transformation, and Stefan just sent her, and most likely Elena, a text message saying that he and Damon finally found Vicki last night. However, while she and Elena knew what really happened to the Donovan girl, no one else did, and many people, especially Matt and Jeremy, were worried about her.

Annabelle didn't dare to even so much as think about her... abilities for the entire month, not wanting extra weight on her shoulders. Although Bonnie let her know that she talked with her grams, who revealed that Bonnie truly is a witch, she didn't want to... she couldn't ask Bonnie's grams to tell her about her family history. She just couldn't. First of all, it was very doubtful that the woman would know anything about the Gilberts' or Sommers' lineage, and even if she did... Annabelle didn't think that she could handle more supernatural beings, and if _she_ turned out to be... a witch...

"Hey," Annabelle was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of her brother's voice from behind her, and turned around in her chair, only to see Jeremy heading towards the door, already fully dressed.

"Hey," she greeted back, before her brows furrowed, "Where are you going? It's like..." she glanced at the clock on the wall to her side. "6:30,"

"The police station," Jeremy answered as he gripped the front door knob in his hand, "They're organizing a search party for Vicki," he finished, before opening the door and heading out without another word.

As soon as the door closed, Annabelle groaned quietly as she turned back around in her chair and put her head in her hands.

"Hey," Elena said to her sister as she entered the kitchen, and Annabelle looked up at her briefly before putting her head back down. "He told you?"

"Yup," Annabelle nodded, looking up with a sigh. "God, I hate doing this to him,"

"I know," Elena nodded with a sigh.

"You know what?" Annabelle suddenly spoke up after a few seconds of silence, and Elena looked at her curiously. "I think I'm gonna skip school today,"

* * *

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Elena asked her sister nervously for what seemed like the millionth time as Annabelle rang the doorbell of the Salvatore Boarding House.

"It's the only way to stop me from going crazy," Annabelle said without looking at her as she took a step back, waiting for someone to open the door. And when someone did, it was, unfortunately, Damon, "Is Stefan here?" Annabelle asked him as Elena inhaled sharply in fear.

"Yep," Damon answered with a smirk.

"Where is he?"

"And good morning to you, little miss 'I'm on a mission',"

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything you've done?" Annabelle asked the Salvatore in disbelief, looking at him incredulously.

"And how can _you_ be so brave, and stupid, to call a vampire arrogant and glib?" Damon answered the question with a question of his own, his eyes staring into Annabelle's. He just barely refrained himself from smirking even wider at the familiar fire he found in them.

"If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead," Annabelle said flatly.

"Yes, you would,"

"But I'm not,"

" _Yet_ ," Damon retorted, and felt genuine enjoyment at his banter with the blue-eyed girl in front of him.

"Believe it or not, I'm actually not scared of you," Annabelle said confidently as Elena's eyes widened at the way she talked to a vampire who could kill her within a second. "Where is Stefan?"

"He's upstairs. Singing 'The Rain in Spain'," Damon smirked, and Annabelle rolled her eyes before pushing past him, which Elena gaped at, surprising even herself with her boldness, "Knock yourself out," Damon smirked, not even turning around as he walked past Elena, waiting until the eldest Gilbert closed the door behind her before allowing a smile to grow on his lips.

Elena fastened her pace until she caught up with her sister, before grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop.

"Are you crazy?" she questioned, looking at Annabelle with wide eyes, to which the blue-eyed girl looked at her questioningly, "He could kill you with a flick of the wrist and you're snapping at him like you would at Tyler?" Elena spoke in an incredulous voice, staring at her sister as though she grew a second head.

"Damon wouldn't hurt me. Or you," Annabelle dismissed before continuing to walk down the hall, but Elena's grip stopped her again.

"Oh, yeah? How do you know? He already killed many people, including _Matt's sister_!" she stressed.

"Look, I don't know how I know, but... I just do," Annabelle shrugged, "Besides, I wasn't lying when I said I'm not scared of him," she added quickly when she saw Elena open her mouth again.

"How can you not be?" the brown-eyed twin asked in disbelief, and Annabelle opened her mouth to answered, but was interrupted by a creak of the floor boards by the door. If she was being honest, Annabelle was quite thankful for the distraction, even if it creeped her out, because she truly didn't know how to answer Elena's question. She didn't know why she wasn't afraid of Damon. She knew it was stupid, but... she actually felt like she could protect herself.

"Stefan?" Annabelle called quietly as she and Elena both looked in the direction of the door, neither seeing anyone but both hearing the creak.

"Yes," came a voice from above them, and they both turned around, only to see Stefan standing on the small stairway balcony above them.

"Where is Vicki?" Elena asked, but Stefan quickly shushed her by putting his finger to his lips and gesturing for her to be quiet.

"She upstairs," he answered quietly before walking down the stairs to meet the girls while they both sighed quietly.

"What happens now?" Annabelle questioned once he reached them, "'Cause our brother is out there looking for her with the rest of the town," she stressed. "What are we supposed to tell him?"

"I'm working with her, but... it's gonna take time. She's a very volatile and impulsive personality, she's a drug user, I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this," Stefan explained quietly, not wanting Vicki to hear their conversation.

"So she's a vampire with issues?" Annabelle asked, exasperated. She didn't think this could get any worse than Vicki turning into a vampire, but apparently she was wrong. _Great. So her screwed up personality is now even more screwed up._ She knew how insensitive these thoughts would seem if she ever spoke them out loud, but she couldn't stop herself from being so bitter. All Vicki has ever done is hurt Jeremy, which Annabelle would _never_ forgive _her fo_ r, and now she's a vampire who will be causing even more problems because of her screwed up way of life. Annabelle didn't know how much of this she could take, and how many more problems caused by the Donovan girl she could handle.

"What are we supposed to do?" Elena asked as she looked at Stefan. "Because we are both lying to everyone that we care about. What's gonna happen to her?"

"I'm gonna keep her here with me until I know that she's safe," Stefan replied as he tried to calm her down.

"How long is that?" came a voice from above them, and they all looked up, only to see Vicki coming downstairs, which made Stefan sigh.

"We can talk about that later," he tried to dismiss as the newly turned vampire stared at him expectantly.

"Hey," Elena spoke up. "Vicki? How are you?"

"How am I?" Vicki repeated, and they all looked at her, "You're kidding, right?" she asked rhetorically, and Annabelle didn't know if she meant that in a positive or negative sense.

* * *

"Coffee is our friend. It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins, and it warms our bodies so we're not so cold to the touch," Stefan lectured Vicki as they sat at a table in the Salvatore Boarding House, both holding a cup of coffee, Elena and Annabelle sitting beside Stefan.

"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?" Vicki asked, and Annabelle immediately tensed, an unfamiliar feeling surging through her veins.

"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge, and fight it on a daily basis one day at a time," Stefan replied.

"Oh, God, don't start with that whole 12 steps thing," Vicki half groaned half whined, "School counselor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me," she said, and Annabelle couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"It _can_ work, it's your choice, Vicki," Stefan said.

"So you've never tasted human blood?" Vicki asked almost skeptically, but a small grin grew on her lips as her eyes flickered between Elena and Stefan, seeing the brunette eye Stefan as she waited for him to answer.

"Not in a long time," Stefan replied after a moment of silence.

"How long?"

"Years and years," he said, and Annabelle could tell that it was a bit hard for him to talk about it, which lead her to believe that he must live with an amount of guilt about something he must have done in the past that concerned human blood. "I'm not proud of my past behavior,"

"Ugh. Does this sketchy feeling ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover," Vicki complained, "And this daylight thing is a bitch!" she exclaimed in irritation, and Annabelle had to stop herself from rolling her eyes again as Vicki stood up with an irritated sigh, "I need more blood. Where's your bathroom? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead," she rambled, and Stefan simply pointed to the hallway behind him.

"Oh, my God," Annabelle groaned quietly after Vicki left the room, resting her arms on the table and covering her face with her hands. She didn't know what was worse. The fact that Vicki was now a vampire or the fact that she had to listen to the Donovan girl's voice more than usual.

"I'm going to, uh, I'm gonna go get her some more," Stefan informed the two sisters sitting beside him, "Alright. I'll be quick," he said, before leaving the room.

"This is a nightmare," Annabelle stated as she looked up from her hands, and Elena feebly shrugged, not knowing how to respond. "You know what? I'll be right back,"

"Where are you going?" Elena asked in confusion as her sister stood up.

"I need to get some air," Annabelle simply replied before leaving the room. She didn't know how much longer she could stand being around Vicki with 'heightened emotions' before she exploded.

"Hey," Stefan called as he saw her walking out of the house and down the outside hallway, and Annabelle stopped walking and turned to face him, giving him a small, strained smile. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just..." she trailed off, not knowing how to say what was on her mind without seeming heartless, "Vicki and I never got along," she finally said, and Stefan joined her beside railing of the boarding house's outside hallway, before putting his full attention on her, "I never liked her. I guess it might have something to do with her attitude. But after she started stringing Jeremy along... I think... I think I actually hated her," she admitted shamefully, but when she looked up at Stefan, she saw no judgement in his eyes. "Look... I know I should be like Elena. I should feel sorry for her, and I should worry about her, but... I just can't. She hurt my brother, Stefan. And I'm never going to forgive her for that. And it might have something to do with that, or it might be just the fact that her attitude always drove me over the edge, but I just... I can't _stand_ being in the same room as her,"

"Hey," Stefan spoke up, making sure she gave him her full attention before continuing, "It's okay. You don't have to change your entire perspective because of the recent events. Yes, what Damon did to her is unfair and it never should have happened, but you have no obligation towards this,"

"She's my friend's sister and the girl my brother loves," Annabelle said. "How is that not an obligation?"

"The people you care about care about her, but that doesn't mean that you are obligated to do the same. Not if it's not something you can do effortlessly," Stefan said, and Annabelle couldn't help but smile, and he returned it, "Am I right?" he asked a bit teasingly, and Annabelle chuckled before looking up at him.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Yeah, I guess you are,"

As they stood there for a moment in silence, Annabelle thought about how ridiculous her sister was being. Yes, Stefan is a vampire, but... he's an amazing guy who is as good-hearted as he can be despite his nature. Why would anyone ever want to push someone like that away?

"Stefan!" came a voice from inside the house, and not a second later Elena ran out of the house and down the hallway, her eyes wide and distressed.

"What's wrong?" Stefan asked in concern, seeing Elena clutching her throat.

"Vicki attacked me," Elena said as she breathed heavily, on the verge of tears.

"What?" Annabelle spoke up.

"She threatened me," Elena stressed.

"She's on edge," Stefan said. "Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin, and then when you throw in her other issues-"

"How long before it settles?" Elena asked. "Hours? Days? Weeks?"

"There's no rule book,"

"Well, how long before you learned to control it?"

"A while," Stefan admitted. "But I didn't have anybody helping me, I had to do it on my own. The thing is, it's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new. It's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire - it can all blur into one urge: hunger,"

"What does that mean?" Annabelle asked, suddenly feeling a bit frightened.

"It means that Jeremy can't see her. Not now. She might not be able to resist him, and she could hurt him,"

"Or worse," Annabelle stated, feeling her chest tighten at the thought.

"I'm not gonna let anybody get hurt," Stefan tried to soothe her, seeing the impact it had on the blue-eyed girl.

"We need to get going," Elena finally spoke up, before turning around to walk away.

"Elena-"

"Please, Stefan, there's only so much I can take," Elena pleaded with tears in her eyes, before walking away.

"I'll see you later," Annabelle gave him a small smile, trying to make him feel a bit better since she could see how hurt he was that Elena, once again, walked away from him, and he returned the smile. And Annabelle was surprised to see that it was a _genuine_ smile.

She then turned around to follow her sister, seeing as she had the keys and Elena was probably waiting in front of the car, before she felt her phone buzz in her back pocket. Her brows furrowed as she pulled out the phone, silently wondering who might be texting her. For a moment, she was even confused because she almost forgot all about reality while she was stuck in a house full of vampires.

'I got u a costume!' she read the text from Caroline, and stopped in her tracks.

"Oh, God," Annabelle groaned to herself quietly, already dreading the party. And, even more so, the costume Caroline picked out for her.

* * *

"Seriously?" Annabelle asked her best friend incredulously only half an hour later as she stared at the costume that she just pulled out of the bag.

"Those were my exact words," Bonnie said from where she lied on Caroline's bed, finishing her History homework so that she wouldn't have to worry about it after the party they were going to in a few hours.

"Oh, come one, Anna! It's Halloween!" Caroline exclaimed, as if that were an explanation enough. "Oh, by the way, do you know what Elena's wearing to the party?"

"Uh, I don't know, but she hasn't been shopping, so my guess is she's just gonna go with the costume she wore last year," Annabelle replied, shrugging.

"Ugh, how completely boring," Caroline wrinkled her nose, making Annabelle bite her lip so that she wouldn't laugh out loud.

"Do we really have to go?" Bonnie suddenly spoke up, silently begging Caroline to just let them all stay and have a nice sleepover.

"Yes!" Caroline exclaimed as she went over to her make-up kit, pulling out different eye shadows that would match their costumes, while Annabelle sighed quietly and threw her costume down on the chair beside her before lying down next to Bonnie, also not feeling like partying after spending the first half of the day with a bitchy vampire Vicki. _Not that the bitchy part was anything out of the ordinary,_ "Oh, come on! Can someone please be excited that it's Halloween?!" Caroline exclaimed in annoyance as she saw the other two girls' expressions, "Look, I just want to have fun. You know, _Damon-free_ fun," she said, her voice wavering slightly, and Annabelle and Bonnie's expressions softened as they shared a quick look.

"I'm sorry, I'm just..." Annabelle trailed off, quickly cutting herself off before she blabbed about what happened to Vicki. Bonnie and Caroline both looked over at her, but her eyes traveled to Caroline, who looked innocently hopeful, simply wanting to have fun with her best friends like they used to, "You know what? Never mind. We're going," she stated, jumping off the bed and walking over to Caroline to grab the make-up kit, the blonde's face brightening in a grin.

Bonnie sighed from where she was still lying on Caroline's bed, but smiled and closed her History book, willing to do anything in order to truly get Caroline's mind off of the crap Damon put her through. Even if that meant going to the Halloween Party.

* * *

Annabelle wrinkled her nose as a drunk guy from her school pushed past her two hours later at the Halloween Party, sighing quietly in annoyance before quickly catching up with Bonnie and Caroline, who were both dressed in costumes that matched hers. They were all actually dressed up as witches, which is why both Bonnie and Annabelle couldn't believe that Caroline made them put those costumes on. Annabelle's matched Caroline's in color, black and purple. The dress had a fluffy skirt, the sort of fluffy that five-year old ballerinas have on their skirts, except a lot more sexy looking and made out of black and purple material. There was a purple corset around Annabelle's waist, displaying her curves, and black material covering her breasts. Caroline curled her hair, letting her keep her _real_ hair, wanting her to be 'the dark one' out of them, while Bonnie was forced to wear a blonde wig. Then, to complete the look, Annabelle's curls were decorated with a pointy witch hat, mostly black but with a purple outline.

"Cider for the ladies?" Tyler spoke up as he walked up to the three, holding four small glasses of cider, two in each hand. He was shirtless, a cloak the only clothing covering his torso. "It's a Lockwood special,"

"No way. Last year I was hungover until Thanksgiving," Annabelle shook her head, quickly making up an excuse so that she wouldn't have to drink, even though Caroline and Bonnie knew the truth. However, the two didn't say a word, simply going along with it.

"Lightweight," Caroline scoffed teasingly, reaching her hand out to grab a glass from Tyler, while Bonnie shook her head when he offered her one, not wanting to get drunk again. "I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with,"

"Sounds like a plan," Tyler nodded, before clinking his glass with Caroline's in a toast, while Bonnie and Annabelle rolled their eyes after sharing a small smile.

"Alright, why don't you get drunk off your asses, while Bonnie and I go dance," Annabelle grinned, before grabbing Bonnie's hand and pulling her between all the other people from their school who were now all in costumes and having fun. Bonnie laughed as Annabelle continued to pull her behind her, before they stopped once they reached the dance floor, where about thirty people were dancing, at least half of them already drunk.

"Hey, where's Elena?!" Bonnie called over the music as she and Annabelle started to dance, and the blue-eyed girl shrugged.

"I have no idea!" she called back.

"Is she even coming?!" Bonnie called, but only received a shrug in reply.

After about five minutes of dancing, Bonnie glanced over Annabelle's shoulder, and smiled.

"There she is," she stated, and Annabelle turned around, only to see Elena, in her last year's nurse costume, and Stefan coming toward them. She smiled, and gave Bonnie a quick smile, silently telling her that she'll be right back, before walking over to them.

"Anna, thank God!" Elena exclaimed, and Annabelle's smile immediately faltered as she noticed the worry in her sister's eyes and the urgency in her voice.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.

"We lost Vicki," she said, her voice shaking slightly, and Annabelle's eyes widened.

"Wait, she's here?" she asked in surprise, and Stefan and Elena both nodded. "How?"

"That's not important right now," Elena shook her head. "We don't where she is, and I can't find Jeremy anywhere,"

"What?" Annabelle breathed out, her heart clenching in fear for her little brother, who would definitely be trying to find Vicki if he had any idea that she was at the party, and Elena nodded with fear in her eyes before running off, Annabelle and Stefan quickly following, leaving Bonnie to stare after them concernedly after she got a glimpse of the worry on their faces.

* * *

Annabelle and Elena split off from Stefan pretty soon as they all searched the school, the girls looking for Jeremy and Stefan looking for Vicki. After about ten minutes of failure, Annabelle and Elena managed to push through all the people in the school and take the back exit, which led to the parking lot for the school buses. They were only going to glance around and then go back inside, but once they heard their little brother's yells, they didn't hesitate to run toward the voice, Elena grabbing a wooden plank on the way. They ran behind one of the school buses, only to see Vicki pinning Jeremy against the bus, hissing as her fangs descended and she was about to bite into his neck.

"Vicki, no!" Elena screamed, and Vicki whipped around to look at them, veins under her eyes showing as she growled and hissed like an animal. She pushed Jeremy away roughly, making him fall to the ground, before stalking over to the girls. Elena quickly swung her arms and tried to hit her with the plank, but Vicki raised her arm to block the hit, and the plank snapped in half. Elena and Annabelle both backed away as Vicki growled at them, before the vampire grabbed Elena by the shoulder and threw her so hard that the brunette flew through the air with a scream before landing on a pile of rubble about fifteen feet away from them.

Vicki's gaze then fell on Annabelle, and she stalked towards her. Annabelle breathed heavily, scared out of her mind, before suddenly something in her mind pushed her to throw out her arm in front of her, her palm open and positioned towards Vicki. If Annabelle thought about it for even a few seconds, she would be wondering why on Earth she did that.

There was no reason behind it. She didn't even comprehend what she was doing until Vicki was thrown back by an invisible force as soon as her palm faced the vampire. Vicki flew through the air, before landing on one of the buses' windshield, the glass shattering at the force of her body. She quickly brushed herself off though, and jumped out of the bus, growling at Annabelle with fury in her eyes. The brunette, however, was too busy staring at her hand with wide eyes and breathing heavily in fear of _herself_ to notice the newly turned vampire stalking towards her, but looked up as she heard a loud bang, only to see Stefan pushing Vicki against the bus roughly, holding her in place.

"Vicki!" Jeremy called as he stared at the scene before him with wide, fearful eyes, and Vicki somehow managed to push Stefan away with force before using her vampire speed to disappear. Stefan, Annabelle, and Jeremy all looked around with wide yes, all breathing heavily as Elena managed to get back up on her feet, clutching the bleeding wound on her torso.

"Go! Get inside!" Stefan ordered as Elena walked over to the three, limping the tiniest bit in pain and proceeding to go back inside like Stefan ordered them to. Jeremy looked over at Annabelle, who was hesitant to leave Stefan even though she knew that he would be fine, with wide eyes, not knowing what to do. Stefan also looked over at her, and his heart warmed at the fact that she cared enough to stay behind for him, even though she had just been attacked by a vampire. No one has cared about him like that in a long time. He took a few steps towards her and put his hand on her shoulder, before looking into her eyes, wanting her to know that he was being absolutely serious, "Go," he told her in a firm voice, and she eventually nodded, quickly grabbing her brother's hand before proceeding to go back inside.

However, as Elena opened the door and ran inside, Annabelle and Jeremy about to follow, Vicki appeared from behind them and pulled Jeremy out of the way, pushing him to the ground, before grabbing Annabelle roughly by her arms, harshly enough to leave bruises, and biting into her shoulder. Annabelle screamed in pain as Vicki fangs penetrated her skin, and tried to get out of her grasp, but Vicki only tightened her grip as the brunette's hat fell off her head. The vampire pulled away for a second, and was about to bite into Annabelle's neck, but Stefan appeared behind her and stabbed her in the back with the wooden, broken plank, piercing her heart.

Vicki slowly pulled away from Annabelle's neck and released her grip on her, to which the brunette reacted by quickly staggering backwards and as far away from the vampire as possible, her hand reaching up to touch the bleeding wound on her shoulder. Stefan pulled out the plank from Vicki's body, and his eyes rested on Annabelle, wanting to make sure that she was alright.

"Vicki!" Jeremy screamed from the ground as Vicki breathed raggedly, and a tear ran down her cheek before her skin started to turn gray, veins appearing all over on her body, "Vicki! Vicki! Vicki!" Jeremy screamed hysterically as she slowly dropped her knees, and Stefan quickly pulled him away as he tried to reach the strawberry blonde, who now completely collapsed, dead. Elena stepped over to her sister from where she was standing by the school exit the entire time, before wrapping her arms around Annabelle and nearly crying in relief.

"You're okay," Elena repeated over and over again as she started to cry into Annabelle's neck, the thought of losing her twin too much for her to bear. Annabelle wrapped her arms around Elena, trying to calm her down, but her eyes remained on Vicki's corpse. She never liked the girl, sometimes she even hated her for hurting Jeremy like she did way too often, but she never wished Vicki dead. She could never wish anyone dead.

"Vicki!" Jeremy screamed desperately as he started sobbing, struggling in Stefan's hold.

"Stefan, get him out of here," Annabelle pleaded as she watched her brother sob, and Stefan immediately nodded before pulling out his cellphone and calling his brother as Elena pulled away from Annabelle and looked down at Vicki's body, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. As Stefan led Jeremy away, Elena stepped over to Vicki's body and slowly dropped to her knees, her arm wrapping around her stomach as she started to sob again, while Annabelle stood helplessly, clutching her shoulder in pain.

After only a few minutes, Damon suddenly appeared from behind one of the buses, and walked over to stand above Vicki's corpse.

"You two should go. I got this," he said, and Elena looked up at him, rage in her eyes.

"You did this," she nearly growled as she slowly got up to her feet, staring at him the entire time. "This is your fault,"

"You confuse me for someone with remorse," Damon said, not even bothering to look up, and something in Elena snapped as she pushed on his chest roughly, though he didn't even budge. Noticing that the shove had no effect on the vampire, Elena swung her arm to punch him in the face, but he quickly caught her hand before she could touch him, "None of this matters to me. None of it," Damon said with a small half-smirk half-smile, before letting go of Elena's wrist, and something in Annabelle snapped as he said it.

"People die around you," she bit out as she took a few steps forward, her hand still clutching her shoulder. "How could it not matter?"

"It matters and you know it," Elena said, her voice shaking with rage and sorrow. Without a thought, she slapped Damon in the face, making Annabelle gasp as Damon looked at her sister with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"You need to leave," Damon simply stated after a moment of silence, "Both of you," he added as his eyes flickered to Annabelle. "Your wounds are bleeding, and you. Need. To leave,"

Annabelle and Elena both stared at him for a second, one with pure rage and the other with disbelief, both with tears in their eyes before they proceeded to make their way back. They got past the people who were still partying, oblivious to what happened only a few minutes ago in the parking lot.

"Anna, Elena!" came a voice from behind them, "Hey, have you seen..." Matt trailed off as the two turned around, and he looked at their wounds in shock and worry. "Whoa. Wh-wh-what happened?"

"Nothing," Annabelle quickly brushed him off, quickly trying to think of a lie. "Some idiot spilled fake blood on us. We're just gonna go home and shower,"

"I ca-can't find Vicki," Matt cut in as the girls turned around and were about to walk away, but they quickly turned back around at the mention of the dead vampire's name. "She totally bailed on me,"

"I don't know where she is," Annabelle shook her head, deciding to take the lead, knowing how bad of a liar her sister was.

"I don't, either," Elena said after a moment of silence, forcing herself to keep her tears at bay.

"Is this what I'm in for? A lifetime of worrying about her?" Matt questioned, sounding almost helpless.

"You're a good brother, Matt," Elena said quietly with tears in her eyes as she tried not to break down, while Annabelle looked down, not knowing what to do or say.

"Yeah. Maybe she went home," Matt said, and Elena forced herself to nod.

"Maybe," she agreed, giving him a small smile.

"Okay," he whispered, before walking away. Annabelle closed her eyes briefly, before grabbing onto Elena's hand and quickly pulling her over to her car, letting the brown-eyed girl get in the passenger seat before she herself got in the driver's seat.

As soon as the girls were seated, they slumped in their seats and Elena began to sob as Annabelle covered her eyes with her hand, trying not to break down, knowing that if she'd start crying she might never stop. Elena, in her despair, hit the dashboard a few times, before beginning to sob again as Annabelle took in a deep, shaky breath.

* * *

After a quiet drive, the two sisters managed to get home. Annabelle parked outside, and they both got out of the car, making their way toward their home. As they reached the front porch, they stopped once they saw Stefan, waiting for them.

"Where is he?" Annabelle asked quietly, not knowing whether she actually wanted to see Jeremy or not. She might never be able to smile again after she did. But she _had_ to.

"Inside," Stefan answered, his eyes sad, and the girls nodded before quickly heading inside. They made their way up the stairs, before halting as they saw Jeremy in his room, sitting on his bed, his knees pulled up to his chest and tears streaming down his cheeks. Elena was about to go to him, but Annabelle stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Wait. Let... Let me," she said, her voice nearly pleading, and Elena for once decided not to argue, and nodded. Annabelle gave her a nod, before slowly entering Jeremy's room, and taking in a deep breath before walking over to sit on his bed in front of him, her heart breaking as she saw the tears and despair in his eyes, "Jer..." she trailed off, her voice cracking. Jeremy looked up at her, and the moment his eyes met hers, she couldn't help but wrap her arms around her, her hand caressing his hair as he cried into her neck, clutching her waist desperately.

"She's dead, Vicki's dead," he cried, his grip on Annabelle becoming almost painful, but she only gripped him tighter, pressing kisses to his head.

"I am so sorry, Jer..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say. It was as if their parents had died all over again. It was _painful_ to see him like this.

"Make it stop, it hurts," he whimpered, and Annabelle closed her eyes as a tear ran down her cheek. She couldn't bear her brother in so much pain. She just couldn't.

"Shh..." she pressed another kiss to his head, before he pulled away but let her hands stay on his shoulders.

"Why does everybody have to die on me?" Jeremy asked brokenly, and in that moment Annabelle's heart completely shattered.

"Oh, my God. Come here, come here," she whispered as she quickly pulled him into her arms, letting him rest his head on her chest and wrap his arms around her waist tightly. Her fingers stroked his hair, and she pressed soothing kisses to his head as Elena watched helplessly, tears streaming down her cheeks, before she went downstairs as Annabelle continued to hold Jeremy in her embrace as he sobbed into her chest brokenly, his body shaking in emotional turmoil.

* * *

After holding Jeremy as he cried for ten or more minutes, he calmed down enough to stop shaking. Annabelle didn't want to leave him, but her wound was still bleeding, so, after making sure he would be fine for a minute or two, she reluctantly left him and went to the bathroom. After cleaning and wrapping up her wound as quickly as she could, she proceeded to make her way back to Jeremy, only to bump into Damon as he exited Jeremy's room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her eyes widening in fear for herself and for her brother.

"What Elena asked me to," Damon replied, shocking Annabelle into silence for a few seconds, before she managed to snap out of it.

"Which is?" she questioned, and Damon sighed quietly before taking a few steps towards her, feeling a bit of happiness when she didn't move back.

"I took away your brothers memories of tonight. Compelled him to forget Vicki's death," he said, and Annabelle stared at him with wide eyes.

"What?" she breathed out, and Damon simply stared into her eyes for a few seconds before walking downstairs. Annabelle stayed in place for a few seconds, her eyes wide as she tried to comprehend the information Damon had just given her, before she quickly made her way to Jeremy's room, only to see her brother asleep peacefully with tear stains still on his cheeks.

She sighed, not knowing what to think. Jeremy's pain broke her heart, and she was ready to do anything in order to take that pain away... But doing it like that...

Annabelle sighed once more, before grabbing a blanket off of a chair beside her and covering Jeremy with it, making sure it was tucked around his form. She then caressed his cheek gently, feeling the dampness beneath her fingertips, before leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. As she pulled away, she saw Elena coming upstairs out of the corner of her eyes, and she straightened her back as her sister stopped in the doorway of their brother's room.

"How is he?" Elena asked, and Annabelle kept her face blank as she walked over to her, closing the door behind her before facing Elena.

"What did you do?" she asked, her voice betraying the anger she felt, shocking Elena.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play stupid with me, Elena," Annabelle snapped quietly. "Damon told me what you had him do. How could you do this?"

"'How could I'... Did you see how much pain he was in?" Elena asked, shocked at Annabelle's anger. Why was she angry? Jeremy wasn't in pain anymore, and that's the most important thing. "It was like our parents died all over again. I just wanted to help him,"

"And so you have _Damon_ , the vampire whom you supposedly _hate_ , take away our brother's _memories_? What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" Annabelle questioned angrily, and Elena opened her mouth to respond, but Annabelle cut her off, "Yes, you're right. It was like our parents died all over again. He was in pain. But he would have gotten over it, Elena! It might take months, maybe even years, but we would've been there for him and he would've gotten over it! You took away his _memories_! That's not okay! You took away _a part of him_! How would _you_ feel if someone did that to _you_?" Annabelle asked, but didn't wait for an answer as she shook her head before walking away from her sister and into her room.

She closed the door behind her and sat down on her bed after lighting the lamp on her nightstand, and collapsed onto the pillows as she covered her eyes with her hand, sighing heavily. So much had happened that night... she didn't know what to feel. There was pain, there was anger, there was... there was everything. Every bad emotion a person could ever feel was there.

Annabelle sighed once more, before turning her head to the side as she closed her eyes briefly. However, once she opened them again, her eyes landed on the candle on her nightstand. She always had a lot of candles in her room, because she loved to have the sort of warm and slightly medieval feeling whenever her room was lit up only by candles. She sat up slowly as she thought over the events that took place earlier that night.

Something happened when Vicki attacked her... or, rather, was about to attack her. She never got the chance to because some force threw her back. A force that... came from Annabelle.

Annabelle looked down at her hands, which began to shake slightly as she recalled all the strange events of the past month and a half. So much had happened, and a lot of things that happened were never explained. The lit candles, the hose splashing water all over Tiki, the force that threw Vicki back, something in her mind telling her that she can protect herself against vampires, even though that's complete rubbish... Something was happening to her.

Annabelle's eyes traveled to the candle, and she concentrated on it more than she ever had before on a candle. She thought of the warmth of a flame, its light, its brightness...

She gasped quietly and jumped back slightly a few seconds later, the flame of the now lit candle reflecting in her blue eyes.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ I hope you all liked the little moment of complete honesty and trust between Stefan and Annabelle. I thought that she really needed to explain why she didn't like Vicki at all to someone, and Stefan seemed like the perfect person, seeing as he never judged her for as long as she knew him, and I think she just also had to let it all out before she exploded. Caroline and Bonnie already know, as does Elena (and we all know how judging of everyone she is), and I know that I sort of explained why Annabelle didn't like Vicki in the third episode, but I wanted to give a little more detail, and this episode seemed perfect for that.

Annabelle got the chance to show her a bit more confident side, as well as her angry side, with both Damon and Elena in this chapter. This doesn't means he hates them, but she sure as hell isn't happy with them. I think she's even more mad at Elena than she is at Damon, 'cause Elena was the one who had Damon take away Jeremy's memories, and I, personally, think it was a really wrong thing to do. Pain of the past is what makes us who we are, and Elena took that away from him.

Stefan and Annabelle are getting close. So close that Annabelle actually thought about staying behind, even after Vicki nearly attacked her and did attack Elena, because she was worried about him.

I hope you also liked the scene between Jeremy and Annabelle. The two have always had a strong bond, and if _I_ cried when Jeremy cried in this scene, then I can't even imagine what kind of pain Annabelle would feel at seeing him like this.

Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter, and don't forget to review!


	8. 162 Candles

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Vampire Diaries in any shape or form. But I do own my OC._

 ** _A/N:_** _This is episode of season 1. We may even see some Annabelle/Lexi bonding as well as Annabelle/Stefan bonding. So, enjoy._

 ** _Reviews:_**

Guest: Guess you'll have to wait and see ;)

Twyla5200: Thank you! I'm glad you like it! And I guess you'll just have to wait and see ;)

Guest: Thank you! I'm so glad you like her! And yeah, one of the things I will definitely concentrate on is her character development because that is the one thing I feel is most important in fiction.

Guest: Thank you so much! I won't say who Annabelle's love interest will be but I completely understand what you're saying. To be perfectly honest, I actually don't understand why everyone loves Damon so much. I mean, yeah, I like him but I definitely like Stefan more. I hate how Damon treated Caroline and I will never forgive him for that, and I just hate how Damon fans always ignore all the bad things he's done but hate on Stefan for the smallest mistakes. And I agree, he is really overlooked. I'm glad you found a ship to be so passionate about in my story already. And no matter whom Annabelle ends up with, I guarantee that it won't be something sudden. If there's one thing I believe in fiction - or any story, really - it's development and I really hate those storied that have the OC meet their love interest and proclaim their undying love for each other two chapters later. Whatever relationship this will be, I promise you it will be a slowburn. And I agree, though Stelena was cute at times, I definitely don't ship them because I just hate how Elena treated Stefan. But anyway, I'm really glad that you like this story! I can promise you one thing: Stefan and Annabelle's relationship is going to be special. I won't say what it's going to be, but it's definitely going to be one of the most important relationships in the story.

: I think that would be a bit too much.

 **Love Sucks**

 **Chapter 8**

 **162 Candles**

"Where did Vicki say she was going?" Sheriff Forbes asked the teenager in front of her the next day, and Annabelle shook her head. She was wearing light grey jeans, a burgundy sweater with long sleeves, and brown boots. Her dark hair was braided over her shoulder, and her ears were decorated with silver beaded earrings.

"She didn't," she said, the lie coming out of her mouth quite easily. After spending the entire summer lying to everyone, saying that she was fine, she had gotten quite good at lying.

"Do you know if she told her brother where she was going?" the sheriff asked, and Annabelle shook her head again.

"No, I don't think so. All I know is that she told Jeremy that she was leaving town,"

"I was told that Stefan also got involved with Vicki," Liz said. 'Because your sister asked him to,"

"Elena did ask Stefan to help, that's true," Annabelle nodded, this time actually telling the truth, "She was worried about Jeremy since he was hanging around Vicki so often and she's a drug user," she spoke, nearly stuttering on the present tense.

"Did Vicki show any signs of aggression or violence?"

"No," Annabelle shook her head, clenching her hand in a fist so that it wouldn't travel up to her shoulder where she could still remember Vicki's fangs penetrating her flesh.

"So you believe Vicki really has left town?" Liz asked, and Annabelle took in a deep, unnoticeable breath, before nodding.

"Yes,"

"Alright," Liz finally nodded after a moment of silence, before giving Annabelle a small smile, "You may go now," she said, and Annabelle nodded, forcing herself to give her a small smile before quickly standing up and leaving the sheriff's office.

"Hey," Jenna stood up from where she was sitting in the waiting area, Elena and Jeremy following. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," Annabelle nodded, before halting as the other three proceeded to leave the station. "Actually, you know what? Why don't you guys go ahead? I'm just gonna use the bathroom,"

"You sure? We can wait," Jenna suggested, a worried glint in her eyes, but Annabelle just shook her head with a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure. You can wait in the car," she said, and Jenna eventually nodded before proceeded to walk out of the station, Jeremy and Elena following suit. As soon as they completely turned around, Annabelle rushed to the bathroom that was only a few steps away, and locked the door behind her before leaning on the sink, her hands clenching on the edge. She drew in a deep, shaky breath as she closed her eyes, trying to keep her emotions in check, but her eyes snapped open as the water suddenly started to rush from the tap.

Annabelle jumped back slightly in shock, before sighing heavily as she closed her eyes briefly. Not only did she have to deal with vampires, her siblings, and the fact that Vicki is actually dead but no one except for her and Elena (and Stefan and Damon, of course) knows, but now she also had to deal with her... powers, or... magic. Whatever it is.

She quickly started to concentrate, trying to do the same with the water as she did with the flame the night before, except this time she imagined the water slowly coming to a stop, and concentrated on the silence that was supposed to follow. After a few seconds, she finally heard the water stop, and opened her eyes, only to see no more water rushing from the tap. Sighing, Annabelle looked down at her hands, not knowing how to handle everything that's been happening lately. Her biggest fear right now... was losing control and... maybe exploding something, or doing God knows what once she loses control of her... powers.

Taking in another deep breath, Annabelle closed her eyes briefly and breathed out before opening her eyes and stepping out of the bathroom. She walked through the station as quickly as she could while not raising any suspicion, sighing in relief once she made it outside. She quickly walked down the stairs, before stopping as she saw a familiar figure standing in front of her, his back turned towards her.

"Stefan?" she spoke up, and the figure turned around.

"Hey," he gave her a small smile, though Annabelle could see the pain in his eyes, which made her wonder just what happened. "Are you okay?"

"I feel like I should be asking you that," she chuckled weakly, and Stefan couldn't help but let out a small chuckle himself. "I'm fine. I don't think the sheriff is suspecting anything, so... for now, I think you're safe,"

"Thank you," Stefan gave her an earnest nod, his eyes shining with sincerity and gratitude.

"You don't have to thank me," Annabelle shook her head lightly, before looking off to the side. "I don't think I would ever be able to tell the truth, anyway,"

"Why not?" Stefan asked, his voice genuinely curious.

"Because if I did... I don't know," she chuckled weakly, not knowing how to say what was going on in her head at the moment, but Stefan waited patiently, allowing her to gather her thoughts, "Ever since my parents died, I feel like... I feel like if I don't talk about it, then it's a lot easier to cope with, because then... I just don't think about it. But if someone asked me to talk about how I'm feeling about my parents' death, about Vicki... I don't think I would be able to handle talking about it. Because then... all the memories just come rushing back... And I feel like I have to relive it all over again," she said, surprising even herself with her honesty. She didn't understand why she trusted Stefan so easily, but it all became a lot clearer when all he did was nod in understanding.

"I understand," he said, and Annabelle gave him a small smile, though it clearly betrayed that she didn't fully believe him, "Really, I do," he said, also noticing it, and she gave him a slightly bigger smile before giving him an apologetic one.

"I should go," she said, and Stefan nodded in understanding before stepping out of her way so that she could pass, "Hey," Annabelle suddenly halted, turning around to look at him with slight worry showing in her eyes, "Are you okay?"

"I will be," Stefan answered after a moment of silence before giving her a small smile, and she returned it after a few seconds before giving him a small wave and proceeding to walk over to Jenna's car, where the strawberry blonde and the two Gilberts were waiting.

* * *

Annabelle walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, halting in surprise as she saw her brother sitting by the table, actually looking like he was working on something.

"You're wallowing," she heard from the living room, and turned her head, only to see Jenna slumping down on the couch beside Elena, who was, indeed, wallowing.

"So are you," Elena retorted.

"My wallow is legitimate," Jenna stated. "I was dumped,"

"Yeah, well, Logan's a jerk," Annabelle spoke up from the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and taking out a carton of milk.

"You didn't get a brushoff e-mail saying, 'I'm leaving town... See ya.'," Jenna said grumpily as she turned her head to look at Annabelle, who took out a glass from the cabinet above her head.

"Wanna keep it down a bit?" Jeremy spoke up from where he was sitting at the table, his voice filled with annoyance.

"Why? What are you doing?" Jenna asked, turning fully around on the couch and resting her arm on the back of it.

"Homework,"

"Since when do you do homework?" Annabelle couldn't help but ask, placing the milk down on the counter as she turned around to look at her little brother, her brows furrowed.

"I gotta finish this, I'm way behind, and I have a quiz tomorrow, so..." Jeremy trailed off pointedly, while the three young women stared at him.

"What do you guys think? Alien?" Elena asked.

"Some sort of replicant," Jenna responded, their eyes still on Jeremy, while Annabelle watched with an amused expression on her face.

"He can hear you," Jeremy said, clearly annoyed, giving the two a sarcastic smile, and Annabelle couldn't help but chuckle as she reached out to ruffle his hair, her smile growing when she swatted her hand away playfully but smiled all the same.

The smile stayed on Annabelle's face, but on the inside... she didn't know what to do anymore. _What the hell has Damon done to my brother?_

* * *

"Hey," Bonnie smiled at her friend, who looked at her in surprise.

"Hey," Annabelle said back, her eyes a little wide. She hasn't seen Bonnie since the Halloween Party, and she didn't really expect to because Bonnie was staying with her grams, trying to learn about her... powers or whatever the hell it was. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to show you something," Bonnie said, her smile widening a bit as Annabelle stepped aside so that she could enter the Gilberts' house. "Where's Elena?"

"In her room. Sulking," Annabelle said dryly, before looking at Bonnie, interested. "Why?"

"I want to show her, too,"

"Show her what?" Annabelle asked, confused, looking at the excited glint in the dark-skinned girl's eyes.

"Oh, just come on," Bonnie said, grabbing Annabelle's hand and pulling her upstairs, making Annabelle yelp as she almost barreled into the rail. Bonnie pulled her friend up the stairs, before pausing once they reached the other Gilbert girl's room, and knocking on the door and opening it at the same time, "You up?" she asked Elena, who was lying in her bed.

"No," she said as she eyed her friend and sister, before pulling the sheets over her head. Bonnie glanced back at Annabelle for a second, and the two shared a simultaneous roll of eyes before walking over to Elena's bed determinedly and attempting to pull the covers off of her, "No. No," the eldest Gilbert whined, pulling on the covers to keep them around herself, and Bonnie paused for a second, sitting down on the bed as Annabelle stood beside her.

"Why haven't you called me back?" Bonnie asked, her eyes on Elena, who sighed.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, though Annabelle noticed that it wasn't a very honest apology seeing as her sister didn't even stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"Are you gonna stay in there forever?" she asked in an annoyed voice, looking down at her sister. Bonnie gave her a slightly scolding look for being, what she would definitely call, 'insensitive', to which Annabelle only shrugged. If she was being honest, she was really about done with Elena's attitude. Elena wasn't the only one who had to go through all this; _she_ witnessed Vicki's death, too. _She_ had to keep it from everyone, too. _She_ had to deal with everything supernatural that they found out about, too. And she also had to deal with her powers, or magic, or whatever the hell it is, struggling to keep control over them and not expose herself. _Elena_ was the one who made Damon take away Jeremy's memories. _Elena_ was the one who broke up with Stefan, not even giving him a chance to somehow explain everything to her. So why was Elena acting like she was the only victim in this entire situation? Annabelle was involved as well. And if she was being honest with herself, her situation was probably even worse than Elena's. Yet Elena didn't seem to take that into consideration.

"Yup," Elena replied, her voice monotone, and Annabelle couldn't help but roll her eyes, while Bonnie's eyes softened as she sighed.

"Move over," she said softly, and got into bed beside Elena as the Gilbert girl moved over to make more room, "I'm officially worried," Bonnie stated as she propped her head up on her elbow and looked at Elena, while Annabelle made herself comfortable on the bed as well, sitting between the two girls' legs. "What's going on?"

"I'm tired of thinking. Of talking, I-"

"Can I get a one-line version so I can at least pretend to be helpful?" Bonnie asked with a sarcastically hopeful smile, and Annabelle couldn't help but smile. That's why she loved Bonnie.

"Stefan and I broke up," Elena finally said, her voice cracking the tiniest bit as she looked over at Bonnie, whose eyes widened.

"I'm so sorry," she said quietly. "Are you okay? Right. Stupid question... I know I've been kind of M.I.A., when you need me the most... I suck,"

"Bonnie..." Annabelle scolded her when Elena didn't even try to seem like she disagreed with that statement. But Annabelle knew what Bonnie was going through, and she couldn't let her blame herself for not being there for Elena when she really had important things to deal with.

"You wanna make it up to me?" Elena asked, "Get my mind off of it," she said, and Bonnie's eyes suddenly brightened and a grin grew on her lips.

"Just remember you asked for it," she said, before jumping off the bed and closing the window beside them, while Elena sat up. Bonnie than nearly skipped back over to us, grabbing a letter opener from Elena's nightstand on her way, and then grabbed Elena's pillow before ripping it open with the letter opener.

"Hey!" Elena protested with wide eyes.

"Uh..." Annabelle also stared a the scene with wide eyes, while Bonnie simply grinned at them.

"Be patient," she said, emptying all the feathers onto the bed.

"O-kay," Elena nodded, while Bonnie sat down on the bed, Annabelle scooting over to give her more room.

"I need to swear you both to secrecy," Bonnie said, the grin no longer on her lips as she looked at the two sisters seriously.

"It's kind of a bad week for that kind of stuff," Elena said dryly.

"No, swear, 'cause I'm not supposed to be showing you this," Bonnie said.

"Okay, I swear," Elena said half-heartedly, her gaze tired.

"I do, too," Annabelle nodded as Bonnie's gaze switched over to her, though her brows still furrowed in confusion.

"Okay. There's no windows open, right?" Bonnie said.

"Right," Elena nodded as she looked around the room.

"There's no fan, no air conditioning..."

"None. What are you doing?" Annabelle cut in, looking at her friend in confusion.

"Grams just showed me this," Bonnie said, the grin back on her lips as she looked at Annabelle, before looking at Elena, "You're gonna love it. You ready?" she asked the two girls, and they both nodded, though a bit hesitantly. Bonnie smiled, and then moved her hand to hover above the feathers, before slowly moving it upwards, the Gilbert twins' eyes widening as one of the feathers floated in the air right below her hand. Bonnie kept it floating in the air for a few seconds, before lowering her hand, the feather lowering to the bed.

"Bonnie, what's going on?" Elena asked, her eyes wide, but Bonnie simply smiled and rubbed her hands together before positioning both of her hands above the feathers. She then moved her hands upward, and about ten feathers followed her movements, floating in the air. Bonnie kept the feathers in the air for a few seconds as Elena gasped, she and Annabelle both looking at the scene in front of them with wide eyes, before lowering them onto the bed again and looking at the two sisters with a slightly hesitant smile. Bonnie then simply looked up, and suddenly three times as many feathers rose into the air and started floating around the three girls sitting on the bed. Elena gasped as Annabelle looked around with wide eyes and her mouth open, and sat up on her knees, looking around with wide eyes. As Bonnie laughed at the twins' expressions, Elena and Annabelle couldn't help but join her.

"It's true, guys," Bonnie said. "Everything my grams told me. It's impossible, but it's true... I'm a witch,"

"I believe you," Elena said as she looked down at her friend, who looked like a true, beautiful witch as she sat on the bed with all the feathers floating around her, and the two girls shared a laugh.

"You know..." Annabelle spoke up, and they turned to look at her as Bonnie lowered all the feather onto the bed, "I don't think you're the only one," she said, and Elena looked at her confused while Bonnie's eyes widened the tiniest bit. Did Annabelle also find out about her powers? Did she learn to control them? "Look at the candle," Annabelle told the two girls, and they all turned to look at the candle on Elena's nightstand. Annabelle kept her eyes on the candle, and did what she did the night before, imagining the warmth and brightness of a flame. Elena and Bonnie both gasped, one louder than the other, as the candle suddenly lit itself, a beautiful flame now decorating it.

"Wha..." Elena trailed off as she stared at the candle with wide eyes, before turning to look at her sister, "Was that you?" she asked, and Annabelle nodded. "How?"

"I don't know," the blue-eyed girl shrugged as she shook her head. "I honestly don't know, but... I guess I'm a witch, too. Although it's not like I really have anyone to ask,"

"You could always ask my grams, I'm sure she'd help you," Bonnie said, and Annabelle gave her look.

"Well, that's assuming she even _knows_ anything about the witches in our family," she said, and Bonnie nodded in understanding as Elena kept staring at her sister with wide eyes. Why hasn't she ever told her any of this?

"It's weird, huh?" Bonnie spoke up again with a smile, "After all this time joking about being psychic, I really am a witch. We both are," she said, and the three girls shared a small laugh, Elena's filled with shock and amazement, "You don't think I'm a freak now, do you?" Bonnie asked, her eyes on Elena because she seriously doubted that Annabelle would think of her as a freak, seeing as she was the same.

"No, of course not," Elena shook her head. "Bonnie, I just... I don't understand, though, if your grams asked you to keep all this a secret, why did you tell us?"

"You're my best friends," Bonnie said as if it were obvious, "I can't keep secrets from you two," at this, both Annabelle and Elena faltered. Bonnie disobeyed her grams, the person she probably trusted the most in the entire world, because they were her best friends and she didn't want to keep secrets from them. Annabelle felt a swell of guilt in her stomach. She hated to keep all this from Bonnie, but... she couldn't betray Stefan. She promised him that she would keep his secret. Bonnie might have promised the same to her grams, but it was actually _her_ secret to tell. In this... it really wasn't Annabelle's secret to tell at all.

* * *

"Why are we here, again?" Annabelle asked her sister in an annoyed tone as they got out of Annabelle's car (that Elena was driving after she took the keys from the kitchen counter and dragged Annabelle with her), which was parked outside of the Salvatore Boarding House.

"I need to talk to Stefan," Elena replied shortly, stepping onto the porch.

"Okay, let me rephrase that: why am _I_ here?" Annabelle asked, looking at her sister, annoyed. Elena didn't reply this time, and instead rang the doorbell, while Annabelle closed her eyes and released a breath, trying to calm down and constantly reminding herself that Elena was her sister and it was Annabelle's obligation to help her with boy troubles. Even if it annoyed the living daylights out of her.

"It's open, come on in!" came an unmistakably female voice from within a house, and Annabelle and Elena shared a confused look before the elder twin pushed the door open and walked in, her brows furrowed, with Annabelle following closely. The two sisters quickly walked to the intersection of the hallway, before stopping and looking around curiously, searching for the source of the female voice. They looked down the hallway to the right, and shared a confused glance after not seeing anyone, before turning around, only to come face to face with a beautiful girl who looked around their age, maybe a year or two older, whose eyes widened at the sight of them. Though she wasn't the only one, as Annabelle and Elena looked down at her attire, which consisted of only a towel, with a bit wide eyes as well.

"Oh, my God," the girl staggered back in, what appeared to be, shock, and the two sisters raised their eyebrows in slight bewilderment. Why was she looking at them as though she had just seen a ghost?

As the young woman stared at the sisters with wide eyes and mouth agape, Annabelle took the time to quickly analyze her. There was no hiding it; she was beautiful. She had long, silky blonde hair that ran all the way down to below her waist, and beautiful hazel eyes. Her skin was much tanner than Annabelle's, and a shade darker than Elena's. As the girl was only wearing a towel, Annabelle could already tell that she had an amazing figure that any girl could envy.

"How, uh..." the blonde began as the stared at the two sisters, though she very obviously couldn't find the words as she continued to stare at them with wide eyes, "Wha... Who?" she finally managed to ask, still staring at the two brunettes, making them slightly more uncomfortable. One more than the other.

"Uh, I'm Annabelle, and this is Elena," Annabelle finally introduced them, and watched in confusion as the blonde raised her eyebrows, as though she couldn't believe the stupidity or the audacity of something. "Who are you?"

"Lexi. A friend of Stefan's," the blonde replied, still staring at the two girls as Elena raised her eyebrows.

"Is he here?" she asked.

"He's in the shower," Lexi replied, and Annabelle and Elena both raised their eyebrows, seeing that Lexi had very obviously _just_ gotten out of the shower. Did that... Did that mean that she and Stefan were...? "Do you want to wait?" Lexi asked, offering the girls a smile, but Elena just shook her head.

"No," she said quietly.

"I'll tell him you two stopped by," Lexi said with a kind smile.

"That's okay," Elena muttered, before practically bolting out the door. Annabelle sighed. Yes, she understood why Elena was feeling hurt or betrayed, but... _Elena_ was the one who broke up with Stefan. Not the other way around. Stefan had every right to get with whomever he wanted.

Feeling a bit bad about the way her sister acted towards Lexi, since Lexi seemed to be really nice and genuine, Annabelle gave the blonde a small, slightly apologetic smile before running out of the house, wanting to make sure that Elena didn't leave her behind.

"Are you out of your freaking mind?" Lexi asked Stefan incredulously as she barged into his room only a few seconds later, walking in on him shirtless as he put on a clean shirt.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, confused, but Lexi just walked over to his desk and picked something up.

"I just met _Elena_ ," she said, holding up the picture of Katherine. Stefan mentally closed his eyes, knowing where this conversation was going to go, but before he could open his mouth to say something, Lexi held up her finger, silently telling him to wait, " _And_ \- and this is the best part - _Annabelle_ ," she said, walking over to his bookshelf to retrieve the picture of Layla and show it to him. "You have some serious explaining to do,"

* * *

"You have some serious emotional damage," Lexi said after hearing the basics of what has happened between Stefan, Elena, and Annabelle so far, sitting on Stefan's bed and applying her makeup, already dressed for the planned party.

"No, it's not what you think, Elena's not Katherine," Stefan insisted.

"Then they're related, because they could be twins," Lexi said, putting away her lipstick. "The same goes for the blue-eyed Belle and Layla,"

"I don't know," Stefan finally said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"You don't know? You-You didn't find out?" Lexi asked in disbelief.

"No, maybe I don't want to know," Stefan said. "I have, I have no desire to tie Elena to Katherine," he said, looking down at Lexi, who only raised an eyebrow at him, "Okay, yes, yes, the-the resemblance is what drew me in, but that's it. Katherine and Elena may look the same on the outside, but on the inside they are completely different,"

"Oh, so Elena's not a raging bitch then, huh?" Lexi asked, looking up at Stefan, who only smiled as he held back a chuckle.

"No," he said, before sitting down in front of her. "No, Elena is... Elena's warm, and she's... she's kind, and she's caring, and she's selfless... and it's real... And... honestly, when I'm around her, I... I completely forget what I am,"

"Oh, my God," Lexi said softly, looking at her best friend with knowing eyes. "You're in love with her,"

"Yeah," Stefan nodded with a smile after a moment of silence. "Yeah, I am,"

"Wow," the blonde commented quietly, closing her eye shadow compact and putting it away as Stefan smiled, "What about Annabelle?" she asked after a moment of silence, looking up at him.

"What about Annabelle?" Stefan asked, confused, but quickly shook his head as he saw the look Lexi was giving him and stood up. "No. No, I know what you're thinking, and it's not like that,"

"Hey, I didn't say anything," Lexi defended herself, but but closed her mouth as Stefan gave her a look. "Okay, fine! I'm curious. I know about the thing between you and Layla-"

"There was never a thing between me and Layla," Stefan cut her off, and Lexi gave him a look.

"Yeah, 'cause you never had the guts to tell her that you liked her," she said in a 'duh' voice, and Stefan shut his mouth, knowing deep down that she was right. "So...?"

"So, nothing," he dismissed. "Anna's not Layla,"

"No, but she seems to have the same effect on you," Lexi observed, her tone growing softer as she knew that this might be a bit more difficult for Stefan. He was in love with Elena, yes, but she knew how he felt about Layla a century ago, "And from what I heard, Layla was much less of a bitch than her dear sister," she said, trying to lighten the mood, and succeeding by getting a smile out of Stefan.

"It's not like that," Stefan shook his head, a small smile still on his lips as he sat back down, "Anna and Layla may look the same, and they might even act the same on certain occasions, but... there was always a part of Layla that was full of darkness. Anna... Anna's pure light," he said, a smile on his lips as he recalled the multiple occasions in which she made him feel better without even trying after such a short amount of time of knowing her.

"You know, you talk about her any more highly and I might just start getting jealous," Lexi joked, and Stefan chuckled. Even though Elena hurt him by turning him down, Lexi could always find a way to make him smile. She truly was his best friend.

* * *

"Whoa," Elena's eyes widened as she saw her sister walk down the stairs, "Where are you going?" she asked, eyeing Annabelle's outfit. The blue-eyed girl was wearing a tight mini skirt with blue and gold designs, a pale yellow top that hugged her curves and breasts perfectly, and tall black wedges. Her dark hair was down in its natural waves, and her neck was decorated with a golden necklace that matched her gold beaded earrings,

"Party at The Grill," Annabelle sighed as she shrugged on a thin white sweater, not bothering to look up as she tried to make sure that she wouldn't fall off the stairs given her tall wedges and fast pace. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned around, her back facing Elena, and grabbed her purse from the table beside the wall.

"I thought you wanted to stay in tonight," Elena said, a confused look on her face.

"I did," Annabelle responded, "But I can't because we both know that Caroline will kill me if I don't go," she said.

"What time are you gonna be back?"

"I don't know, probably..." Annabelle cut herself off as she turned around, only to see Stefan standing right beside her sister, patiently listening to their conversation, "Oh... Um... did I interrupt something?" she asked hesitantly, mentally slapping herself. If she did interrupt something, she already knew that Elena will give her hell for it later.

"No," Stefan smiled at her kindly, "I was just leaving," he said, and Annabelle nodded a bit hesitantly, giving him a small smile and quickly shooting Elena an apologetic look as soon as Stefan's back was turned toward them, "Hey," Stefan suddenly spoke up, turning around, his eyes on Elena. "Do you need a ride to The Grill tonight?"

"Are you going to Caroline's party?" Elena asked, chuckling as she eyed him.

"Lexi's dragging me," Stefan shrugged with a smile, "And... it's my birthday,"

"Really?" Annabelle asked in surprise, and Stefan smiled, chuckling lightly.

"Wow, um... happy birthday, then," Elena snapped out of her surprise, stepping forward to stand closer to Stefan.

"Thank you," Stefan murmured with a smile, giving her a nod.

"Actually, I, um... I think I'm gonna stay in tonight," Elena said, and Stefan's smile noticeably faltered as he nodded and forced himself to give her a small smile.

"Okay," he whispered, and Annabelle couldn't help but look at him in sympathy, "Well, have a, have a goodnight," he said, giving them a nod as he started taking steps backwards slowly.

"Actually," Annabelle spoke up before he could leave, and he and Elena turned to look at her, "I wouldn't mind a ride. Pressing the gas pedal isn't exactly the easiest thing to do in these," she said, gesturing to her shoes, and Stefan got a look of understanding on his face as he chuckled.

"Come on," he smiled, jerking his head towards the car that was parked outside the house.

"Thanks," Annabelle smiled, before walking past him.

"Goodnight," Stefan gave Elena a small smile, before following Annabelle and opening the car doors for her like a true gentleman, before rounding the car and getting in the driver's seat after Annabelle thanked him with a smile. Guys like that were really hard to find these days.

As the two drove away, Elena followed them with her gaze as she looked through the front door she left ajar. Even though she truly didn't feel up to going to a party, she couldn't help but feel jealous. Annabelle was going there with Stefan, she was driving in Stefan's car, the two obviously were getting along very well... Elena sighed, closing the door. She really needed to get rid of her petty jealousy before some problems developed between her and her sister because of it. Family problems were the last thing she needed.

* * *

"I'm sorry for the trouble," Annabelle apologized as she looked over at Stefan, who glanced at her.

"Don't worry about it," he smiled, and Annabelle returned it before her gaze turned a bit more serious.

"So this girl, Lexi..." she started, and Stefan glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "Is she a friend of yours?" she asked, and Stefan chuckled.

"Yes. A very old friend," he said, before turning his head to look at her briefly, a smile on his face. "She's 350 years old,"

"You mean she's a...?" Annabelle trailed off, still not feeling very comfortable with saying the actual word.

"Yes," Stefan smiled. "And she's my oldest friend. She visits me only once a year now, but there was a time when we spent years together,"

"Which decade?" Annabelle asked, a smile of interest painted on her face, and Stefan couldn't help but smile at the fact that she didn't eye him wearily.

"Multiple ones. But the 80's were definitely our top one,"

"Bon Jovi fan much?" Annabelle asked teasingly.

"Yes, actually," Stefan said, his smile growing as Annabelle's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yes,"

"Huh," Annabelle eyed the vampire, "I think I like you even more now,"she said, and Stefan looked at her with a confused glint in his eyes as he drove into The Grill's parking lot.

"You like Bon Jovi?" he asked, and Annabelle chuckled.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" she asked, before holding up her hand as they unbuckled their seat belts, "Actually, never mind, don't answer that," she said, and Stefan chuckled before getting out of the car as Annabelle made sure that her phone didn't fall out of her purse. Once she ensured that it was still there, she turned around in her seat, about to open the door, only to look up as the door opened by none other than Stefan Salvatore.

"Here," he smiled, offering her his hand, and Annabelle smiled at him gratefully as she grasped his hand, slowly getting out of the car, struggling the tiniest bit in the tall wedges and tight mini skirt.

"Thank you," she breathed out with a grateful smile, and Stefan smiled as he closed the door and made sure to lock the car.

"I want to apologize, by the way," Stefan suddenly spoke up as they began to walk towards The Grill's entrance, and Annabelle looked at him in confusion.

"For what?"

"You might not be able to have much free time tonight," he said, and chuckled, looking down at his feet bashfully as Annabelle's brows furrowed. "I told Lexi a lot about you and Elena. Given that you're coming, she probably won't leave you alone,"

"Ah, got you," Annabelle chuckled, and Stefan followed before quickening his pace to hold the door open for her, "Thank you," she smiled, and proceeded to walk into The Grill, before stopping as she remembered something, "Oh, by the way! Happy birthday," she smiled, and Stefan gave her a nod and a smile before following her into The Grill, "Whoa," Annabelle murmured as she eyed the party in front of them. She always knew that Caroline had a gift for organizing things like that, but to see The Grill filled with so many people dancing and drinking like they would at a nightclub was not a very common sight.

"Matt!" Stefan suddenly called from beside Annabelle, and she turned to look at him, only to see his gaze trained on the familiar blond, "Just hear me out? Please?" Stefan pleaded as he walked over to the quarterback, and Annabelle followed, deciding to help him in case Matt still wanted nothing to do with the vampire. It wasn't Stefan's fault that Vicki 'disappeared'. He was only protecting Annabelle from her. If anything, it was Annabelle's fault. But more than that, it was Damon's fault. Matt was just blaming the wrong Salvatore, "I was just trying to help Vicki. I went through something similar... once," Stefan said, and Annabelle could see that Matt was slowly giving in, "I'm really sorry," the vampire said sincerely.

"Don't be," Matt shook his head. "It's not the first time she's run off. Turns out Vicki's just like her mother. I can't count on either of them," he said, and Annabelle frowned in sympathy, "Thanks for trying," Matt said, giving Stefan a nod, before shifting his gaze onto Annabelle, "Have a good time," he forced a smile, before disappearing in the crowd.

"You know it's not your fault, right?" Annabelle spoke up, not even bothering to look at Stefan, knowing exactly what she'd see in his eyes. Guilt.

Before Stefan could answer, a familiar beautiful blonde walked over to them, a drink in her hand.

"You made it!" she exclaimed, a grin on her dark lips.

"You didn't exactly give me a choice," Stefan joked, his good mood returning, and Lexi rolled her eyes with a smile before looking at Annabelle.

"And this is the famous Annabelle?" she asked, and Annabelle raised her eyebrows.

"Famous, huh?" she looked at Stefan, and Lexi laughed at her best friend's expression.

"I like you," she pointed her finger at Annabelle, to which the blue-eyed girl laughed.

"Was it a bad idea to introduce you two?" Stefan asked, eyeing the girls.

"You didn't introduce us, we introduced ourselves," Lexi said, and Annabelle had to stifle a laugh as Stefan rolled his eyes. "Now come on! To the dance floor we go,"

* * *

"Okay, I'm gonna need a _little_ more foot movement," Lexi chuckled the tiniest bit as she moved her hips to the rhythm of the music blasting through the speakers, hopelessly trying to get Stefan to dance as Annabelle watched from the side, more than amused.

"Yeah, I'm not really - not really interested in making a fool out of myself," Stefan said, attempting to push past his best friend, only to be stopped by Annabelle, who pushed herself off the counter she was leaning against and walked over to join them.

"Okay, you can't be that bad," she said, putting her hand on his chest to stop him from walking any further, making him sigh as he looked down at her.

"He's not," Lexi informed her loudly, and Annabelle raised her eyebrows before holding out her hand, making Stefan sigh.

"Just do me a favor, tell me if you see Damon with his camera phone," he said, a smile breaking out on his lips as he finally grabbed her hand, making her and Lexi both grin.

"Right," the blonde nodded, before grinning even wider and grabbing Annabelle's hand, pulling both her and Stefan further out onto the dance floor.

* * *

"Woo!" Stefan exclaimed after taking his turn at the pool game he and Lexi started a few minutes earlier as Annabelle watched from the side, a smile on her face at the vampires' carefree demeanor.

"Nice!" Lexi exclaimed with wide eyes before giving her best friend a high five as Annabelle chuckled, "Awoo!" Lexi grinned at Stefan, before turning her head to look at the brunette a few feet away. "Hey, come here! Come on, join us!"

"Oh, no. No, thank you," Annabelle chuckled as she raised her hands, shaking her head.

"Oh, come on!" Lexi exclaimed dramatically, making Annabelle chuckle as the blonde grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the pool table, "Live a little!" At that statement, Annabelle raised her eyebrows, and Stefan laughed as Lexi realized what she said before shrugging it off with a smile.

"I would, but I don't know how to play," Annabelle admitted after a few seconds. "And yes, before you ask, it is possible to not know how to play pool in this town,"

"Even with all the awesome pool tables?" Lexi asked, raising her eyebrows jokingly, making Annabelle chuckle as Stefan watched the two with a smile.

"Even with all the awesome pool tables," Annabelle nodded.

"I can teach you," Stefan suddenly spoke up, and Annabelle looked over at him in surprise before smiling, unable to stop herself as Stefan smiled at her.

"Yeah, see?" Lexi grinned, and Annabelle sighed before smiling.

"Okay," she surrendered.

"Great! Okay, I'm gonna go get us drinks. Pick your poison,"

"Oh, no, that's fine. I don't drink," Annabelle shook her head.

"Another admirable trait," Lexi nodded in joking approval, and Annabelle chuckled as Stefan handed her the pool stick. "I'll be right back,"

"Okay, here you go," Stefan said as he set up the balls on the pool table while Lexi headed over to the bar.

"You know, I wasn't kidding when I said that I don't know how to play. I don't even know how to hold this thing," Annabelle said as she looked at the pool stick in her hand, making Stefan chuckle.

"Alright, come on," he smiled, walking over to stand behind her, before moving her hands so that both of them were on the pool stick and placing his own over hers, "Bend over a little," he said, and Annabelle did just that, his body following suit as he moved her right hand to one end of the stick, bending her right arm in her elbow, and moving her left hand right underneath the stick and on the table, "Now, go," he said, his breath tickling the side of her face, and Annabelle did just that, managing to hit the ball right into one of the holes (with a little help from Stefan).

"I did it!" she exclaimed in shock, though the smile on her face was ever-so present.

"See?" Stefan smiled, and Annabelle couldn't help but return it. His smile was simply contagious.

"Thank you,"

"No problem," he replied, before they both looked over at Lexi, who came back with, strangely, no liquor in her hands.

"Yep, I drank yours. Sorry," she chuckled, but Stefan simply smiled as he looked into her eyes earnestly.

"Thank you," he said in gratitude, and Annabelle furrowed her brows in confusion, though she wasn't about to pry and ask what they were talking about.

"You weren't supposed to be listening," Lexi said with a mock glare, but Stefan only continued to smile, "I was feeling epic. Whatever," she muttered with a tiny grin on her lips, before looking over at Annabelle. "So, how did the lesson go?"

"Well, I doubt I could be an Olympian pool player, but... so far, so good," the brunette smiled, making the vampires smile as well.

"Okay, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go touch up a little," Lexi smiled at the both of them before walking away. Annabelle opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Elena - who she just realized was at the party - who walked over and grabbed one of the pool sticks.

"Hi," she smiled, and Stefan looked over at her, his eyes bright.

"Hey,"

"You know what, I'm gonna go and try to find Bonnie or Care," Annabelle quickly spoke up, before walking past her sister, raising her eyebrows suggestively at Stefan while doing so, making him smile for what seemed like the hundredth time that night and shake his head.

Annabelle slowly made her way through the dance floor, bumping into multiple dancing people while doing so and attempting to find either Caroline or Bonnie, or anyone she knew for that matter. Finally, she saw the familiar blonde hair in a booth next to Matt, and sighed with a small smile before heading over in their direction. However, her eyes widened in alarm and worry as she saw her best friend stand up, only to nearly tumble to the ground a second later.

"Caroline?!" she exclaimed, quickly running over to them as Matt carefully put Caroline's arm around his neck and tucked his arm underneath her knees, picking her up bridal style. "What happened?!"

"Oh, hi, Anna," Caroline slurred, clumsily picking her head up off Matt's shoulder to give Annabelle a weak smile.

"She's drunk?" Annabelle asked, and Matt nodded.

"Yeah, she's pretty hammered," he said, and Annabelle sighed as she reached over to smooth Caroline's hair from her face. "I was just gonna take her home,"

"Yeah, okay, go," Annabelle gave him a nod and smiled a small smile at her best friend as Matt walked past her. "Good night,"

Annabelle sighed, running her hand through her hair before looking around, hoping to at least find Bonnie, only for her brows to furrow as she saw Sheriff Forbes and two policemen making their way through the bar. She turned her head to look in the direction they were heading, only to see Damon and Lexi both by the bar. Having a horrible feeling in her gut, Annabelle started to slowly walk towards the bar, only to stop in her tracks and gasp in horror as she saw Sheriff Forbes stab Lexi in the side with a syringe, making the vampire gasp. She saw Lexi go limp and the two policemen grab her by her arms before beginning to drag her through the bar and towards the back door.

"Oh, my God," Annabelle breathed out, before quickly looking around for Stefan, only to see him and Elena already heading in the direction Lexi was taken, "Excuse me. Sorry, excuse me," Annabelle began to push through the crowd of people, quickly following Stefan and Elena to the back door. Once she reached them, Elena looked over at her with wide eyes before they both followed Stefan outside. Only a few seconds later, they heard multiple gunshots and quickly began to run in that direction, Annabelle having the tiniest difficulty with her choice of footwear. They rounded the corner and saw Sheriff Forbes firing shots at Lexi, who walked towards her, unfazed, with her fangs and bloodshot eyes and veins visible.

Annabelle only had a second to comprehend what was happening, before Damon suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stabbed Lexi in the heart with a wooden stake. And though Annabelle was in no way an expert on vampires, she knew one thing: a wooden stake to the heart was lethal.

Annabelle and Elena both gasped loudly in horror, and Stefan quickly pulled them both against the wall, placing his hands over their mouths and shushing them quietly as he, too, stared in horror. His brother had just killed his best friend and not bat an eye.

"Oh, my God," he whispered, tears gathering in his eyes as Annabelle slowly took his hand off her mouth and leaned over to look at Damon, who pushed the stake even deeper into Lexi's heart. Annabelle's eyes filled with tears as she watched the girl's body slowly desiccate before it dropped to the ground. Lexi was dead.

"You okay?" Annabelle heard Damon ask, and saw him place his hands on Sheriff Forbes' shoulders.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, "Get it in the car, quickly," Annabelle shook her head at the use of word 'it.' Lexi was a person. An incredible person, one Annabelle felt incredibly grateful to have met, even if it was just for an hour. And now, she was gone.

* * *

"Stefan," Elena called as she and Annabelle both attempted to catch up with Stefan, who was walking ahead with a determined expression on his face, "Stefan!" Elena called again, grabbing his arm, only for him to push her off him as he turned around to look at the sisters.

"He killed her. He killed Zach, he killed Tanner, he turned Vicki... I have to kill him," he said, his voice choked up, before turning around to walk off.

"No, you can't do that!" Elena said loudly, following him.

"Why are you trying to save him... Elena? He's never gonna change, don't you see that, he's never gonna change!" Stefan exclaimed, before beginning to walk away again, both Annabelle and Elena following him.

"I'm not trying to save him, I'm trying to save you, you have no idea what this will do to you, please, Stefan!" Elena pleaded, grabbing his arm again.

"Everywhere that I go, pain and death follow. Damon follows me. No more," Stefan shook his head, his voice pained.

"Stefan, please, please, just-just talk to me, let me be here for you, talk to me," Elena begged, grabbing his arm to stop him from walking off once again.

"No," Stefan shook his head, tears in his eyes, "You were right to stay away from me," he said, before walking away. Elena stared after him for a few seconds, tears in her eyes, before she turned around and headed back to the Grill, walking past Annabelle. As soon as Elena walked away, Annabelle began to run in the direction Stefan headed, praying silently that he wasn't gone yet.

After running for at least a minute, she finally saw him, and sighed in relief before picking up her pace again, determined to reach him.

"Stefan," she called, but was ignored, "Stefan!" she called louder, and the vampire finally turned around.

"What?!" he nearly roared, and Annabelle stopped in her tracks, before sighing as she saw the pain and tears that threatened to fall. Hesitantly, she began to walk towards him, and seeing that he wasn't walking away, she quickened her pace before finally reaching him and wrapping her arms around his neck once she did.

Stefan was stiff for a few seconds, though that didn't affect her hold. She kept her arms wrapped firmly around his neck, one of her hands moving to stroke the back of his head as he finally crumbled, his breathing shaky as he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck, tears finally falling. One of his hands reached up to fist itself into her sweater, but Annabelle only pulled him closer as he cried into her neck, the pure despair nearly breaking her heart in half.

"I'm sorry,"

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Hope you all liked the chapter! I definitely enjoyed writing this one. It was pretty hard and it took me a long time to write it. I hope you all like the look we got at Stefan at the end of this chapter. He's really angry at Damon but more than that, he's just heartbroken that his best friend was killed, not to mention she was killed by his own brother.

I hope you also enjoyed the extra Annabelle/Lexi bonding in this chapter. Don't worry, this isn't the last you'll see of them.

And I've decided on my pairings in this story. I don't think they will be revealed in this book though because I just really want season 1 to concentrate on the establishment of Annabelle's relationships with everyone in Mystic Falls (Stefan, Damon, Caroline, Jeremy, Elena, Jenna, Bonnie, Ric, etc.)

And Stefan allowed himself to be heartbroken in front of Annabelle. I hope you like that scene - I was going for both sweet and real at the same time and I hope I reached my goal.

Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter and don't forget to review!


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